MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 



THOMAS M.STEWART 



m 




Class _iLS4^£_ 

Book SS^ 

Copyright N° 



COFVRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

OR MASONRY AND 

ITS MESSAGE 



BY 
THOMAS MILTON STEWART 

Past Master Avon Lodge No. 542 F. & A. M. 

Corresponding Member Quatuor Coronati Lodge 

No. 2076 and the Authors' Lodge 

No. 3456, London 



CINCINNATI 

STEWART & KIDD COMPANY 

1914 



.383 



Copyright, 1914, by 

STEWART & KIDD COMPANY 

All Rights Reserved 

Copyright in England 



/• 



VAIL-BALLOU COMPANY 

BINQHAMTON AND NEW YORK 

OCT -8 1914 



'CI.A379917 

0t* ' • 



FOREWORD 

For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the 

truth. 

77 Corinthians xiii, 8. 

Science is exact knowledge of the facts of nature, 
classified and systematized. 

Truth is the established relation which the facts of 
nature sustain to each other and to the Individual Intel- 
ligence or Soul of Man. 

Philosophy is the conclusions which men, in their 
search for a knowledge of truth, have drawn from the 
facts of Science. 

Religion is the application of the facts of Science and 
the Conclusions of Philosophy to individual life and 
conduct. 

The Great Work, page 185. 

When pure rules of conduct are observed, then there 
is true religion. 

Imitation of Buddha, page 48. 

Believe after observation and analysis, when it agrees 
with reason and is conducive to the gain and good of 
one and all, then accept it and live up to it. 

Buddha. 

The knowledge of the parents ought to be the inher- 
itance of the children. 

Tartar Proverb. 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

The Message of Ancient Masonry i 

Masonry and the Higher Evolution of Man 15 

Albert Pike as Master of Wisdom 28 

The Cincinnati Masonic Study School 36 

The Master's Salutatory 54 

Why Papal Rome is Opposed to Masonry 58 

Masonry 72 

A Portion of the Field of Masonic Study 81 

Is the "Great Work" a Masonic Book? 93 

Personal Effort 98 

The Dew of Hermon 100 

Jacob's Ladder 101 

Modern Progress Opposed by the Pope 102 

How to be a " High up " Mason 106 

Our Public Schools and the Church of Rome .... 109 

"It is NOT BECAUSE of Religion" 114 

Why Guardians of Liberty? 117 

Encyclical Letter, Pope Leo XIII, August 4, 1879 . . .131 

Why I Believe in Another Life 133 

The Pursuit of Knowledge 135 

A Study : Which Came First, the Civilized or the Savage 

Man? 145 

Buried Continents and Lost Cities 155 

Spiritual Progress — An Egyptian Symbol 169 

The Son of Man and The Son of God 172 

A Lutheran Minister's Misinterpretation of Free- 
masonry 204 

Index 243 



Symbolic Teaching, or 
Masonry and Its Message 

THE MESSAGE OF ANCIENT MASONRY 1 

MASONRY, through its symbolism, can be 
traced far back into the ages, but historically 
the links are too broken to be of much value 
to the seeker after the real meaning and mission of the 
Grand Order. 

One who assumes that all real knowledge is of recent 
discovery or that the ancients have little to contribute 
to twentieth-century instruction, will not care to 
seriously study Masonry, unless he can be shown some 
facts that will change his attitude of mind from skep- 
ticism or honest doubt to one of open-mindedness. In 
the study of Masonry one should tentatively accept 
those things that seem both reasonable and true, until 
he is able to demonstrate them to be otherwise. 

To broaden one's view it is wise to note some of the 
achievements of ancient civilizations and ancient 
thought, to gain confidence in any message they might 
have to transmit to us. 

ANCIENT CIVILIZATION. 

In the notable position attained by ancient civilization 
we shall find nothing more striking than The Labyrinth. 

The French and German Egyptologists agree with the 
description of Herodotus as to the "Labyrinth, a sub- 

1 The New Age, November, 1906. 

I 



2 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

tcrranean series of halls and passages with the most ex- 
traordinary windings, consisting of 3,000 chambers, half 
below and half above the ground. He regarded it as 
more marvelous than the Pyramids, and as eyewitness 
he examined both. The handiwork excelled all other 
human productions, and the colonnades and roofs were 
exquisitely carved all over with figures." 

If such was the Labyrinth, when viewed by Herodo- 
tus, what in such a case was ancient Thebes, a city de- 
stroyed far earlier than the period of Psammeticus, 
who reigned 530 years after the destruction of Troy. 
And Troy was once proclaimed a myth, until Schlie- 
man proved its real existence; and underneath Babylon 
of old has been found another ancient city, to con- 
found and confute our boasted attitude of mind re- 
garding the antiquity of man and his wonderful civiliza- 
tions. 

Something different, but no less marvelous, challenges 
the admiration in the ruins of 

KARNAK, 

which, as the solitary representative of ancient Thebes, 
fit emblem of a once majestic empire, stands neglected 
as if forgotten by the onward flight of time. It elo- 
quently testifies to the art and skill of the ancients as 
the outward symbols of knowledge and power. He 
must indeed be devoid of spiritual perception who fails 
to feel the intellectual grandeur of the race that planned 
and built it. 

Champollion, who passed almost his entire life in the 
exploration of archaeological remains, gives this descrip- 
tion : " The ground covered by the mass of remaining 
buildings is square; each side measures 1,800 feet; one 
is astounded by the grandeur of the sublime remains, 
the prodigality and magnificence of the workmanship 
to be seen everywhere. No people of ancient or mod- 
ern times have conceived the art of architecture upon 
a scale so sublime, so grand, as it existed among the 
ancient Egyptians ; and the imagination, which in Europe 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 3 

soars far above our porticos, arrests itself and falls 
powerless at the hundred and forty hypostyle of 
Karnak. In one of its halls the Cathedral of Notre 
Dame might stand and not touch the ceiling; but be 
considered as a small ornament in the center of the 
hall." It must be remembered that when Thebes flour- 
ished the whole valley of the Nile from the cataracts 
to the sea was covered with temples, palaces, obelisks, 
pyramids and tombs, all on the same scale of magnifi- 
cence. 

Transfer your imagination now to Siam and Cam- 
bodia, and there are found no more imposing ruins 
than 

NAGON-WAT, 

the wonder and the puzzle of European archaeologists 
who venture into Siam and Cambodia. 

When we say ruins, the expression is hardly correct, 
for nowhere are there found buildings of such tremen- 
dous antiquity in a better state of preservation than 
Nagon-Wat and the ruins of Angkorthom, the great 
temple. 

Vincent in " The Land of the White Elephant " says : 
" We who live in the nineteenth century are accustomed 
to boast of the perfection and preeminence of our mod- 
ern civilization; of the grandeur of our attainments in 
science, art and literature, as compared with those we 
call ancient. 

" But still we are compelled to admit that they have 
far excelled our endeavors in many things; notably in 
the fine arts. We have just been looking upon a most 
wonderful example of architecture and sculpture. In 
style, beauty of architecture, solidity of construction 
and magnificent and elaborate carving the great Nagon- 
Wat has no superior. It certainly has no rival standing 
to-day." 

This will be enough to remind us that the ancients 
can still teach us something in sculpture and architec- 
ture. If in this material or outward sense " they built 



4 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

like Titans and ornamented like jewelers" may it not 
serve as an index to work done upon the intellectual 
planes as well? Would it be strange if among these 
ancient people, whose work astonishes the world of to- 
day, there were some who devoted much time to the 
study of the deeper things of life? And would it be 
any more strange, if among these, some discoveries were 
made that might still challenge our admiration and de- 
mand our serious contemplation? Let us see. 

ANCIENT AND MODERN THOUGHT. 

In the opinion of many there has been but one age of 
real knowledge on earth, and that the present one. In 
the misty dawn of history stand the scarcely discern- 
ible outlines of the philosophers of old. They were, it 
is said, hopelessly groping for the meaning of their own 
sayings. 

Too many of the present age feel that the noon of 
bright knowledge has just arrived, and according to 
present views the learning of the philosophers of old 
has ever been useless to the world. While some grant 
that Pythagoras, Plato and a few others left not a few 
ancient landmarks over mines of precious thought, still 
the actual excavations and the smelting of the ores are 
all due to modern science. 

Modern science and modern thought have indeed 
pushed back the veil of matter until now we again stand 
upon the border line between two worlds. Wireless 
telegraphy, so uncanny and mysterious a few years ago, 
is to-day no more unusual or marvelous than the tele- 
phone or telegraph. 

But are we ready and willing to understand the an- 
cient thought as its message warrants, and what was 
that message? 

CLEWS TO THE MESSAGE. 

We may see clews to the message in the teachings of 
" our ancient friend and brother Pythagoras, who trav- 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 5 

eled in Egypt, Asia and Africa, and who was initiated 
into the various orders of priesthood and raised to the 
sublime degree of Master Mason." These teachings 
are full of interest in relation to the subject matter we 
have under view. Born 586 b. c, he taught the car- 
dinal principles of Freemasonry, viz. : " Deity ; the 
Immortality of the Soul, and the Brotherhood of Man." 

In Thomas Taylor's translation of " Iamblichus' Life 
of Pythagoras " we learn that the Pythagoreans ac- 
cepted the candidate only after due trial. 

First, the candidate " must be able to refrain from 
speaking; ... to conceal in silence and preserve that 
which he had learnt and heard." In the next place, 
they observed " whether he was modest." He " must 
not be astonished by the energy of any immodest pas- 
sion or desires," or in other words, he must " learn to 
subdue his passions." 

Pythagoras taught by symbols in order to conceal di- 
vine mysteries from the uninitiated; and he purposely 
taught his disciples to obscure their writings and con- 
ferences. Justice, temperance, courage and other vir- 
tues entered prominently into the ethical teachings of 
Pythagoras, as a basis for the higher knowledge of the 
powers of the soul. Which secret knowledge the can- 
didate must " seek of his own free will and accord." 

In this connection read Thomas Taylor's translation 
of " Iamblichus on the Mysteries." 

The teachings of Pythagoras are oriental through 
and through, for this great philosopher ever pointed to 
the Far East (from whence the Wise Men came) as the 
source of his " secret information." 

So too, Colebrooke, in a volume of " Asiatic Trans- 
actions," quotes Plato's Epistles that he had taken his 
teachings from " ancient and secret doctrines." 

Alexander Wilder says : " Pantaenetus, Athenagoras 
and Clement were thoroughly instructed in the Platonic 
philosophy, and comprehended its essential unity with 
the oriental system." 

Clement, one of the Church Fathers, said : " The 



6 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

mysteries of the Faith are not to be divulged to all. It 
is requisite to hide in a mystery the wisdom spoken." 

Pythagoras preceded Plato; and the Neo-Platonists 
were active in the early Christian age. The Gnostics 
and Essenes also preceded Christianity and were secret 
orders. 

In the first three centuries after Christ, the Christians 
became such, after an initiation through three degrees. 
Their meetings were secret and their knowledge pre- 
served inviolate. Were it not for this fact more would 
have been generally known of the Christ, the central 
figure. 

AMMONIUS SACCUS. 

Between the second and third centuries of our era 
Ammonius Saccus was born of poor but Christian par- 
ents. He was endowed with such genuine goodness 
that he was called Theodidaktos (the God taught). 
He honored that which seemed to him good in Chris- 
tianity, but very early broke with it and the churches, 
being unable to find in it any superiority over the older 
religions. 

He sought to reconcile the Platonic teachings and the 
Aristotlean system with oriental philosophy. His stu- 
dents and followers studied pure spiritual mysticism. 

Ammonius , disciples were Origen, Plotinus, Porphyry, 
Iamblichus and Proclus. The celebrated school of 
Gnostics also had its origin in Alexandria. Philo 
Judaeus, Josephus, Clement of Alexandria, Eratos- 
thenes, the astronomer; Hypatia, the girl philoso- 
pher, and numberless other stars of second magnitude, 
all belonged at various times to these great schools and 
helped to make Alexandria one of the most justly re- 
nowned seats of learning the world has ever seen. 

It was Ammonius who accented the message to hu- 
manity and taught that religion was based on one and 
the same truth. Later St. Augustine said the same. 
Max Miiller quotes him thus : " There is no false reli- 
gion which does not contain some elements of truth/* 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 7 

Ammonius maintained that Jesus's real mission was 
to purify the ancient religions and therefore taught 
" that the religion of the multitude must go hand in 
hand with philosophy, and with her had shared the fate 
of being by degrees corrupted and obscured with mere 
human conceits, superstitions, and lies, and that it ought 
Ao be brought back to its original purity by purging it 
pf this dross and expounding it upon philosophical 
principles, and that the whole which Christ had in view 
was to reinstate and restore to its primitive integrity the 
wisdom of the ancients." (Mosheim.) 

Ammonius obligated his disciples by oath not to di- 
vulge his higher doctrines, " except to a true and lawful 
brother; who proved himself so by strict trial to be 
worthy of initiation, and who had learned to regard the 
Gods, the Angels, and the Deamons of other peoples 
according to their secret meaning.' , 

This faithful Neo-Platonist, Ammonius, and his de- 
voted followers made a grand, and for that period, a 
final effort to check the ever-increasing ignorant and 
blind faith of the times. It was the last product of 
Greek philosophy, which was finally crushed and put to 
death by brute force masquerading in the guise of spir- 
itual teachers of the ignorant and superstitious masses. 

THE FORMATIVE IDEAS OF RELIGION. 

The one and the same truth as a basis of all reli- 
gions was the wisdom found in the books of Thoth 
(Hermes Trismegistus) from which books Pythagoras 
and Plato learned much of their philosophy. The doc- 
trines of the former he affirmed to have been identical 
with the earliest teachings of the Brahmans, now em- 
bodied in the oldest Vedas. 

" The name Thoth," says Professor Wilder in " Neo- 
Platonism and Alchemy," " means college or assembly," 
and it is not improbable that the books were so named 
as being the collected oracles, and doctrines of the sac- 
erdotal fraternity of Memphis, Rabbi Wise (says 



8 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

Wilder) had suggested a similar hypothesis in relation 
to the Divine utterances recorded in the Hebrew Scrip- 
tures. Professor Wilder continues : " But an Indian 
writer asserts that during the reign of King Kansa, the 
Yadus, a Sacred Tribe, left India and migrated to the 
West, carrying the four Vedas with them. There was 
certainly a great resemblance between the philosophical 
doctrines and religious customs of the Egyptian and 
Eastern Buddhists, but whether the Hermetic books and 
the four Vedas were identical is not known." 

Nevertheless, if we seek for the " message of old " 
with dispassionate mind we shall soon perceive that the 
ethics of Gautama the Buddha, Plato, Appolonius, 
Jesus, Ammonius Saccus and his disciples, were all 
based upon the same mystic philosophy; that all wor- 
shiped one God, whether they considered Him as the 
" Father of humanity who lives in man as man lives in 
Him," or as the " Incomprehensible Creative Princi- 
ple " ; all led Godlike lives. Ammonius taught that their 
school (Neo-Platonic) dated from the days of Hermes, 
who brought his wisdom from India. 

We must always remember that it is only through the 
doctrines of the more ancient philosophies that the reli- 
gion preached by Jesus may be understood. It is 
through Pythagoras, Confucius and Plato that we can 
comprehend the ideas which underlie the term 
" Father " in the New Testament. Plato's ideal of the 
Deity, whom he terms the " One Everlasting Invisible 
God," " the Fashioner and Father of all things " 
(Timaeus 269 E) is similar to the "Father" of Jesus. 
It is this Divine Being of whom the Grecian sage says 
that " He can neither be envious nor the originator of 
evil, for He can produce nothing but what is good and 
just." 

The doctrine of God being the Universal Mind dif- 
fused through all things underlies all ancient philoso- 
phies. The Buddhistic tenets, which can never be bet- 
ter comprehended than when studying the Pythagorean 
philosophy, its faithful reflection, are derived from this 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 9 

source, as well as the Brahmanical religion and early 
Christianity. 

" To show that the religion founded by Jesus was the 
natural growth of what had gone before does not 
diminish its excellence, but only proves that it had a 
reason for its existence ; and that it was legitimate — 
that is to say, in conformity with the instincts and wants 
of the heart in a given age." (Renan's " Life of 
Jesus.") 

These ideas were kept alive by the Neo-Platonists 
down to the time of Hypatia, and with her death they 
gradually receded, due to the oncoming Dark Ages of 
ignorance, superstition and falsehood. 

THE TRINITY. 

In the Book of Hermes, the Divine Pimander, is 
enunciated in distinct and unequivocal sentences the 
whole trinitarian dogma as accepted by the Church of 
to-day. 

" The light is me," says Pimander, the Divine 
Thought. " I am the Nous or intelligence, and I am thy 
God, and I am far older than the human principle which 
escapes from the shadow. 

" I am the germ of thought, the Resplendent Word. 
The Son of God. 

" Think, that what thus sees and hears in thee is the 
Verbum of the Master, it is the Thought which is God 
the Father. 

" The celestial ocean, the Ether, which flows from 
East to West, is the Breath of the Father, the life-giv- 
ing principle, the Holy Ghost. For they are not all sep- 
arated and their union is Life." 

In the foregoing lies the fierce hatred of some of the 
early Christians toward these so-called Pagans. The 
ancient religions and the Neo-Platonists had been laid 
by them under contribution to perplex the world for 
thousands of years. 

Celsus, the Neo-Platonist and disciple of the school 



io SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

of Ammonius Saccus, had thrown the Church Fathers 
into perturbation, and even had arrested for a time the 
progress of proselytism, by successfully proving that the 
original and purer forms of the most important dogmas 
of Christianity were to be found also in the teaching of 
Plato. 

Celsus accused them of accepting the worst supersti- 
tions of Paganism and interpolating passages from the 
books of the Sybils without rightly understanding their 
meaning. The accusations were so plausible and the 
facts so patent that for a long time no Christian writer 
had ventured to accept the challenge. 

Ambrosius was the first to take the defense in hand, 
but his eloquence failed and the only remedy that could 
be found was to destroy the writings of Celsus. 

THE UNPRIESTLY PRIEST. 

The dispersion of the Neo-Platonists had become the 
fondest hope of the Roman Church, and it was finally 
achieved. The members were scattered by the Bishop 
of Alexandria and his nephew Cyril ; the latter, the mur- 
derer of the young and learned Hypatia, and with her 
death there remained no possibility for the Neo-Platon- 
ists to continue their school at Alexandria. She was 
pounded to jelly under the blows of Peter the Reader, 
her body cut to pieces and otherwise cruelly maltreated, 
and finally cast into the fire by order of Bishop Cyril, 
who was later canonized as St. Cyril. 

THE MESSAGE LOST. 

The question will naturally arise, " If these ancient 
civilizations amounted to so much, and if these ancient 
philosophers ever had a real message to humanity about 
the nature of man, how does it happen that all has been 
lost?" 

Civilizations are like individuals. They grow and 
they pass away. One may waste his opportunities as 



.MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE n 

an individual in dissipation, or he may neglect to im- 
prove the opportunity to inform the mind, to transform 
the heart, and so come to old age with bitterness and 
doubt, bequeathing no legacy of any value to posterity. 
Or, old age may be the land of promise, with the crown- 
ing glory reflected from a well-spent life, founded upon 
brotherly love, that comes from doing right according 
to one's own reason and conscience. The legacy of 
such a life may reveal the " Jewel in the Lotus " to the 
listening ear and faithful breast. 

So, too, civilizations made up of individuals may re- 
fuse to travel the road that leads to complete develop- 
ment, and by selfishness and greed reach seeming pros- 
perity only to waste away and die without having 
grasped the privilege of every race, viz. : to receive and 
pass on to posterity a message of truth, in fact and dem- 
onstration, of the real nature of man and his power 
over his natural and his spiritual body in strict accord 
with St. Paul's declaration. 

Thus it is, the ancients had a creditable civilization 
as indicated by art, architecture, philosophy, and litera- 
ture, and some of these we may trace as remnants but 
much seems lost beyond recovery. All around us the 
same problems that confronted the ancients are await- 
ing solution. They concern the unseen no less than the 
visible universe; the spiritual no less than the material 
existence. 

The philosophers of old, " those who knew/' tried to 
indicate that man may become a co-worker with both 
Nature and Divinity on these higher planes if he will. 
He may sit in the Councils of Destiny and help to shape 
the progress of his race; or he may crawl like a worm 
and be trodden under foot till, through misery and pain, 
he struggles to the light. 

But few in past ages were " duly and truly prepared, 
worthy, and well qualified " by development along na- 
ture's constructive lines to take up the Great Work. 
These few have preserved the message from cowans; 
they have transmitted unimpaired through the ages the 



12 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

valuable tenets which will some day make man free; 
and to the extent that he frees himself from all bondage, 
and develops in an equal degree his spiritual faculties 
as compared to the physical powers, he becomes a Free- 
mason — a Master Builder. 

THE MESSAGE REGAINED. 

To regain the message of ancient Masonry is the prob- 
lem of every civilization, and it ^is indissolubly inter- 
woven with the destiny of each individual, and with the 
universal evolution of the human race. We are the 
heirs of all the ages. Our personal responsibility con- 
cerns the promise and potency of all future time. 

We inherit the past, 
We create the future. 

Therefore the ever present Now, is a transition pe- 
riod. This period needs informing. It needs guidance. 
To inform and to guide along lines of equity, justice, 
and right, will lay the foundation for a grander civili- 
zation that will secure social order, because it will be an 
organization of individuals actuated by a desire to do 
right under the Light furnished by untrammeled reason 
and conscience, thus shall Justice be Universal and 
want and misery unknown. 

Man's individual inheritance is a deeper knowledge 
of the nature of his own Soul. To claim it he must 
seek it of " his own free will and accord." 

" To ask, to seek, to (give the right) knock and it 
shall be opened unto you " is sense, not nonsense. All 
of which is the Message of Ancient Masonry; but as 
much ours as we care to make it. 

Tennyson beautifully crystallizes the thought en- 
larged upon in this essay. He says: 

Yet I doubt not through the ages one 

Increasing purpose runs, 
And the thoughts of men are widened 

With the process of the Suns. 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 13 

In old India the purpose was alluded to in " the build- 
ers and destroyers." In the science of ethics it is be- 
coming known as " the constructive and destructive 
processes of nature. ,, 

This essay simply points to a few lines of evidence 
that, through a succession of ages, the Light of Knowl- 
edge has been kept burning until " future generations " 
should again find the designs on the " trestle board." 

What to-day, are the signs on the " trestle board " ? 

Good men and true find themselves possessed of a 
broader knowledge than their theologies willingly per- 
mit them to use ; therefore creeds are going to pieces. 
People are rushing to Christian Science and all forms 
of New Thought in a vain effort to satisfy a legitimate 
demand of the Soul. Journals of Mysticism and Oc- 
cultism are widely proclaiming real knowledge for sale 
at bargain prices. Fads and fancies; leaders and re- 
vealers ; in fact, everything to bewilder. 

Read Sir Oliver Lodge's " Life and Matter " and the 
'* New Knowledge," by Professor Duncan, of Washing- 
ton Jefiferson University, to gain a fair insight into the 
rapid strides being made along scientific lines. Then 
consider that, in the whole teaching of Masonry, there 
is not a single false principle of ethics; and that the 
Master Mason has nothing to unlearn, no fetters to 
break, and you will perhaps discover that the time is at 
hand when the cooperation of Science with Masonry is 
necessary to checkmate the secret and well understood 
effort now being made to gain control of and to subvert 
the original purpose of our dearly won freedom. 

To hold the balance of power it is only requisite to 
have a million upright men; clear-headed and unselfish 
enough to desire no fee or reward, and therefore able 
to detect deceit and imposition ; men who know the real 
issues and whose love for humanity is such that they 
will forever strive for the freedom of all — for that 
freedom which grants to no one dominion over the rea- 
son and conscience of another in any walk of life. 

All of this is possible, for once again the circle has 



i 4 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

rolled around to the parting of the ways. Once again 
the " designs " are plainly to be seen and the time of 
" labor " is at hand. 

As Tyndall says : " The time is at hand to plant the 
tree of knowledge beside the tree of superstition and 
hope that its roots will be strong enough to drain away 
the sap and thus let the superstitions wither." 



MASONRY AND THE HIGHER EVOLUTION OF 

MAN 1 

IT is not possible, neither is it necessary, for the elu- 
cidation of our thesis, to trace back the origin of 
Freemasonry link by link along historical lines to 
the point of its beginning. 

THE ROMAN COLLEGE OF ARTIFICERS. 

Dr. Oliver writes fascinatingly of the organization of 
Freemasonry, as we now have it, in the time of the 
building of King Solomon's temple, 1012 b. c. 

" It is true, it is difficult to find evidence that traces 
Masonry, as now organized beyond the Building Cor- 
porations of the Middle Ages, which, at first, were ar- 
chitectural brotherhoods, distinguished by signs, words, 
and fraternal ties ; and while these have not been essen- 
tially changed, the symbols and legends have been 
developed and extended, while the association has un- 
dergone a transformation from an operative art to a 
speculative theory. 

" But even these organizations must have had an 
antitype from which they derived their peculiar charac- 
ter. This may have been the Roman College of Artifi- 
cers of Numa. Some authorities say we need go back 
no further, for here is the beginning, and there is good 
authority (Krouse, Heldmann, etc.) for the outward 
identity traced between the Roman Colleges of Arti- 
ficers and Freemasonry of to-day. 

" Numa, the second king of Rome (715 b. c.) in order 
to harmonize the various nationalities of his kingdom, 
established one common religion, and divided the citi- 

1 The New Age, June, 1907. 

15 



16 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

zens into curias and tribes; each composed of Romans, 
Sabines, and other nationalities. 

" The artisans were also united into different guilds 
or corporations, under the name " Collegia " or colleges, 
each composed of its own particular craftsmen, each 
having its own regulations, both secular and religious. 
These guilds grew in number and influence and were 
abolished in 80 b. c. because their political influence was 
inimical to a jealous senate. They were revived later, 
and outlived the decline of the Roman empire. 

" These colleges could not consist of less than three 
members. Each was presided over by a chief. The 
officers were stationed in three different places. They 
had a special officer to conduct the religious part of their 
ceremonies. Their members were divided into three 
classes, Seniores or " elders," the chief men of the trade; 
journeymen and apprentices. 

" The place of meeting of these colleges was in some 
way connected with a temple. The deity to whom such 
temple was consecrated was worshiped by the members, 
and became the patron god of their art. When the 
Christian religion began to exert an influence, one of 
the Christian saints was adopted as patron in the mod- 
ern guild. 

" Their meetings were secret ; they initiated 
neophytes; they had a fund for the benefit of indigent 
members, and for the relief of destitute (brothers or 
members) strangers belonging to the same society. 
They had a constitution and enacted laws for their own 
government. They had just and lawful colleges ; and 
' collegia illicita ' or clandestine colleges. They made 
a symbolic use of the implements of their art or profes- 
sion." 2 This was natural, because all the ancient reli- 
gions were almost entirely symbolic. 

2 " Encyclopaedia of Freemasonry," Mackey. 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 17 



THE TRUE ANCIENT MYSTERIES. 

That the profound philosophy and science locked up 
in the symbolism of Freemasonry may have come down 
to us through the Roman College of Architects is possi- 
ble. The study of this symbolism, elucidating as it does 
the nature and destiny of man, carries us back into the 
true Ancient Mysteries, and to the cradle of humanity 
in the East, from whence came wise men. 

There is a coordination of the teaching when each 
symbol is studied that would make of some of the arti- 
sans of the guild profound philosophers, and of this 
there is not the least evidence. Moreover, there is too 
much agreement in the teaching of the philosophers of 
old like Pythagoras, Ammonius, Plotinus, etc., for the 
impartial student, the seeker after the real truth, to 
avoid the conclusion that the masters of old were work- 
ing according to definite designs on the trestle-board. 

It might be profitable and interesting to see if we can 
discern any of these designs, and if so, to determine 
whether or not we, as individuals, are " at labor " or 
" at refreshment." 

WHAT DOES FREEMASONRY MEAN TO YOU? 

Freemasonry means something different to each indi- 
vidual according to that phase of it which made the 
deepest impression during his initiation. To one the 
fraternal fellowship of the teaching seems most pro- 
nounced ; to others, the ceremonies, the symbols, the 
dramatic incidents, etc., appeal with greater or with less 
force. To another, the recognition of the rights, free- 
dom, and utility of all religions strikes a responsive 
chord, and he feels that here he can begin to take ac- 
count of creeds and dogmas, while relying on the eternal 
verities of his own interpretation of God, his intuitive 
conviction of a conscious existence independent of his 
wonderfully mysterious but mortal physical body; and 
his confidence in brotherly sympathy in the great work 



18 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

of solving some of the problems of his individual nature 
and individual destiny. 



" From the dawn of civilization to the present moment, 
two active and opposing forces have been engaged in 
deadly conflict over the destiny of human intelligence. 

" One of these has been the unfaltering, courageous 
and consistent champion of individual life, individual 
liberty, and individual happiness. The other has, with 
equal consistency and persistency, sought to dominate 
and control the life, intelligence, and conscience of the 
individual and subject him to individual bondage and 
servitude. 

" The one has dignified and emphasized the indrvid- 
ual intelligence, and appreciated its value both to itself 
and to society. The other has persistently ignored the 
great fundamental fact in Nature, that the individual in 
his own right, as such, is invested with certain inde- 
feasible attributes and certain inalienable rights, priv- 
ileges, and benefits which must be respected." 8 

TWO FORCES AT WORK NOW. 

These two forces have manifested their power 
through isolated individuals no less than through the 
organized institutions incident to man's activity in his 
civilizations. 

That institution which exists for the benefit of man's 
higher evolution, for his well-being in all his capacities, 
and for the enlightenment of society belongs upon one 
side. 

That institution which exists solely for its own self 
as an organized body, be it what it may, and seeks to 
maintain itself without regard to the largest measure 
of individual liberty and enlightenment, belongs upon 
the other side. 

3 "The Great Psychological Crime" 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 19 

God, or Nature, has drawn the dividing line. 

Upon the one side stands an institution that has for- 
ever given Light to all its votaries. 

Upon the other side stands the institution that cham- 
pions ignorance, and fear, and that dominates and con- 
trols. 

That institution which exists to promote the higher 
evolution of man, through teaching self-reliance, and 
basing all action upon individual reason and conscience, 
appeals to the sense of right and justice inherent in each 
human heart ; it will also encourage a broad and liberal 
education, will encourage judgment based on knowledge 
and individual experience, and will champion individual 
will as the master of the temple within, and give to the 
world Free Men. 

That institution which persistently seeks to unite 
church and State, in spite of the pride and indolence in 
the clergy 4 which says, " If the formulas of modern 
science contradict the science of Catholic dogma, it is 
the former that must be altered, not the latter " ; 5 which 
demands subjection and obedience in the individual 
through the power of superstition and fear ; will give to 
the world those whose convictions and conscience are 
ruled by others — and this is spiritual tyranny. 

FAITH. 

Each individual must work out his own salvation, not 
in fear and trembling, but with the head clear, and the 
mind open to truth from whatever source it may come. 
Each individual has within his own soul the criterion 
of truth in his Faith, in his Hope, and in his Charity. 

Faith is said to be " the substance of things hoped 
for " and " the evidence of things not seen," but is it 
not something of a conviction that certain things agree- 
ing with reason, are or must be true, when conscience 

4 " The Parochial School," by Father Crowley. 

5 Bishop of Newport quoted by Sir Oliver Lodge in " Life 
and Matter." 



20 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

also approves them as good? When these elements 
work together, it is well to pause; to consider; to accept 
and act, or to reject until more knowledge shall illume 
the way* 

THE LAMB SKIN. 

You had faith that when you received the lamb skin 
as a badge of a Mason, that it was an emblem of inno- 
cence ; ancient and more honorable than any other order 
that could be conferred upon you — by any dignitary, 
no matter how high — but this was simply your so- 
called faith in the statement and the acquiescence of the 
brethren of the lodge. 

But suppose you took the statements as a topic for 
study and found that the lamb or ram was a very old 
symbol, and that it had several meanings, according to 
the aspect of its use or application. That, for instance, 
it meant " primordial space " or the " great deep " 
(khnoom) ; that it also means " the hidden or supreme 
spirit " (ammon) ; and that in Sanscrit one of its syn- 
onyms is " Aja," meaning " no birth, the self-existent, 
eternal, self-sufficient cause of all." Suppose you found 
these ideas connected with the use of the lamb as a 
symbol, would you not begin to think that perhaps there 
is a deep meaning in the symbol? 

If we knew something of the nature of the individ- 
ual intelligence, and could determine some of its powers 
and capacities, we would be on the straight and narrow 
path, that leads to a knowledge of " the hidden or su- 
preme spirit " ; in time the " great deep " would disclose 
some of its secrets, in proportion as we developed skill 
in the use of our faculties and put them in use for the 
benefit of man, and thus displayed the true Masonic 
spirit. This would mean a growth that would disclose 
the complete meaning of the honor involved in the lamb- 
skin symbol. 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 21 



THE MASTER MAN. 

Now if, through man, forces have been at work to 
uplift him, to sensitize his conscience, to illumine his rea- 
son, in order to expand his area of consciousness, would 
it not mean that some men have seen the designs on the 
trestle-board and by working along the line of least re- 
sistance, have reached a plane somewhat beyond that of 
the ordinary. Our intuitive convictions do not say us 
— Nay ! 

For we are taught to use our tools . . . for " the no- 
ble and glorious purpose of fitting our minds as living 
stones for that spiritual building, that house not made 
with hands . . ." 

Just as in the lamb skin there is a deeper meaning, so 
too, in this there is a profound significance. 

Another phase of the problem is beautifully expressed 
by Browning, when he says: 

" Man is not man as yet, 
Nor shall I deem his object served, his end 
Attained, his genuine strength put fairly forth, 
While only here and there a star dispels 
The darkness ; here and there a towering mind 
O'erlooks its prostrate fellows; 

When all mankind alike is perfected, 

Equal in full-blown powers — then, not until then, 

I say, begins man's general infancy. 

Such men are even now upon the earth 

Serene amid the half-formed creatures 'round." 

REAL KNOWLEDGE. 

The problems have been worked out by means of the 
" seven sacred sciences," and for the one who really 
wants to know, the way is open. 

But what does it mean — to know? 

The answer is — to experience. 

Real knowledge comes as we put into practice those 
things which we apprehend and comprehend. Appre- 
hension comes from attention and study of the details 



22 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

of a proposition. Comprehension involves the working 
out of relations and the putting into practice; the result 
is a complete understanding of the subject at hand. 

This means a growth — an evolution, a continuous 
process. The deeper the question, the more true is this 
fact. 

IMMORTALITY. 

" If a man die, shall he live again ? " is the dominant 
question that has come down to us, side by side with 
the two contending forces. The one force aiding the 
evolution of the individual; the other, controlling that 
evolution. 

This is not a strange question to consider in a Ma- 
sonic meeting, our teachings are full of references to it, 
and it is involved in the higher evolution of man. 

You say, but this is a mystery, no one knows and no 
one can know anything about it. 

This is equivalent to saying that you know all that 
has been acquired by anyone on this subject in the past, 
and that you also know all that may be known about it 
in the future. 

It is a mystery, truly. But the whole of human life 
is a mystery. Every gain in knowledge from the cradle 
to the grave is an initiation into one mystery after an- 
other; and every experience is a revelation from the 
hitherto unknown and mystic realm. 

In youth hope is led by desire, and we are all eager- 
ness and expectation for what the future may disclose. 
Contact with the world, and with those who " preach 
but do not practice," shatters our idols. We see those 
who " believe," but who act as if this were the only ex- 
istence, and life but a bargain counter, where it is rush 
and grab, push and shove, cheat and deceive, for a 
paltry gain in tainted gold. So the land of promise 
fades from view. And so Goethe says: 

Our aspirations, our soul's genuine life 
Grow torpid in the din of earthly strife. 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 23 

The student is bewildered; he wants really to know. 
He does not discern where or how to begin. Lucky is 
he, indeed, if he can keep clear of the mystifiers who 
barter and sell a lot of truck supposed by their dupes 
to be the real thing. 

A trial soon teaches the discriminating mind that real 
knowledge can only be acquired through conscious ex- 
perience; a wise self-control is a prime requisite, and 
this means some self-denial and suffering. 

THE ROUGH AND RUGGED ROAD. 

The royal road to the higher evolution of the individ- 
ual intelligence lies in the direction of self -conquest. 
To evade or violate " that standard of right by which 
we are enabled to render to every man his just dues 
without distinction " is moral suicide. 

Wrecks on the sea of life, innumerable, show us that 
nature has laid down the law and it is no use to try to 
" cheat, wrong, or defraud " her at any point. For 
sooner or later, conscience, which is the recognition of 
our obligation to live up to our ideals, comes in to show 
us our errors and to admonish us that " morality, recti- 
tude of life, and the circumscribing of our desires," are 
our moral, ethical and spiritual gauges. 

In every age we have had clandestine teachings to 
bewilder the seeker after truth in his journey over the 
rough and rugged road that leads to the garden of the 
gods. 

DULY AND TRULY PREPARED. 

Every great nation has had its mysteries of initiation. 
In Greece, in Persia, in Chaldea, in Egypt, in India, a 
science and a philosophy are concealed in the teachings 
of the sages of old ; it was only imparted to the candi- 
date who was worthy, and well qualified to receive the 
initiation and the teachings. 

In these ancient mysteries originated all mythologies 
and all religious symbolism and ceremonies, even the 



24 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

fast and feast days; and in them are preserved the an- 
cient theology from which fragments have come down 
to us in various creeds and sects. 

THE DIVINE RIGHT OF KINGS. 

In the Golden Age of India, the king or ruler of the 
people was a High Priest of the Mysteries, not because 
of so-called royal birth or succession, but because of 
that divine birthright of knowledge and power. Herein 
is the origin of the " Divine right of the kings," and as 
originally applied, it operated for the welfare of the peo- 
ple. But the greed for temporal power in the breasts 
of few designing priests soon led to confusion and de- 
generation, then came oppression. These selfish priests 
became kings by the power of might, they were refused 
initiation, and so they schemed to destroy and to degrade 
the mysteries. The real lodge quietly withdrew; clan- 
destine mysteries took their place; they were corrupt, 
and never had the real secret, but they cheated mankind 
out of the chance to contact the real lodge except as he 
solved the preparatory work for himself and took the 
" kingdom of heaven by violence." 



We have said conscious experience is one of the nec- 
essary steps to a real knowledge of the higher evolution 
of man in the solution of such a problem as conscious 
existence beyond the change called death. 

This was one of the problems in the greater mysteries 
of old. Let us see what we now know about the ele- 
ments of the problem. 

In our conscious experience in life man knows him- 
self as himself. That is to say, he never confuses his 
self identity with another one. There is from the time 
he remembers anything about himself all through life a 
continuity of this self-identity. " I am," and I know 
that " I am I," 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 25 

Even in dreams this continues with us as a conscious 
experience. In the trance state, due to various neurotic 
conditions, there is no break in the experience. 

Does it do violence to one's knowledge and intuition 
to predicate that the death of the physical body does not 
annul that which is foreshadowed as conscious exist- 
ence on other planes than the physical? 

I am not trying to solve the problem of conscious ex- 
istence after death. I am only showing that it is a 
problem that can be formulated, and one that is being 
forced to the front by the researches of some of the 
foremost thinkers of our time. 

It is passing strange, too, that these thinkers are all 
in the scientific world; and none, who take such ad- 
vanced ground, are theologians. 

BOOKS TO READ. 

Some scientific inquirers will gain much information 
from a careful study of Professor Ladd's (Yale Col- 
lege) work on " Psychology." This may be supple- 
mented by a careful perusal of Professor Duncan's 
(Washington Jefferson University) "New Knowledge," 
and Sir Oliver Lodge's (University of Birmingham) 
" Life and Matter." 

Scientist and non-scientist alike may find much to con- 
form their intuitive convictions in a careful reading of 
u The Harmonics of Evolution " and " The Great Psy- 
chological Crime." Every Master Mason should read 
the fourth chapter in " The Great Work " to discover 
the original plan and purpose of Freemasonry. A 
thoughtful reading of the whole volume will help the 
real student to better formulate his own ideas of Ma- 
sonry, and to determine his own position with regard to 
our " ancient and honorable order." 

THE GREATER AND THE LESSER MYSTERIES. 

To come back to our problem again, and consulting 
our individual conscious experience, we observe that 



26 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

it includes the outward visible things of sense and time; 
and the inner and invisible realm or world of ideas. 

All experience in life brings into the objective field 
some phase of the inner realm. This unknown mystic 
realm was denominated the Underworld, in ancient 
initiations, it was first dramatically represented, and the 
student was taught to coordinate the varied experiences 
of life with the potencies of the Underworld. 

As Byron says: 

Between two worlds life hovers like a star 
Twixt night and morn on the horizon's verge. 

There were always the lesser and the greater mys- 
teries. The candidate, in the lesser mysteries, was in- 
structed so that he became duly and truly prepared, and 
proved his worthiness by adjusting his life to his own 
highest and best ideals; his ability to exercise an intel- 
ligent self-control demonstrated that he was well quali- 
fied to safeguard himself from the attacks of psychic 
or other forces sure to obstruct his path. Thus a real 
initiation was in progress all of the time, and failure 
to meet each unexpected test barred the candidate from 
further progress. 

In the school of Pythagoras many remained in the 
first degree; and when weary of waiting they passed 
out of the school, a white stone was erected to their 
memory. 



OR HONOR. 

Candidates for the greater mysteries became dead to 
the world, only to become servants to the great orphan 
— humanity. They deposited all their worldly goods 
with the community of initiates ; if they failed and went 
forth to the worfd again, they were given twice the 
amount of their original deposit. The Masonic tradi- 
tion " that no man shall be regarded for his worldly 
wealth or honor " had here its origin. 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 27 

The power of such a community is tremendous. Safe 
and beneficial when devoted to real helpfulness to lib- 
erate mankind and put him in possession of his own 
capacities and powers ; but dangerous and deadly when 
wielded by the selfish or the designing. The Catholic 
Hierarchy is modeled on this latter plan and is one 
source of its power. 



ANCIENT LANDMARKS. 

Modern Masonry has preserved these ancient land- 
marks and traditions. The philosophy has become ob- 
scured and the key to unlock its mysteries has long 
since disappeared. All of the Blue Lodge degrees per- 
tain to what was originally termed " the Lesser Mys- 
teries." They contain vague hints of the " Great 
Initiation." 

What is this " Great Initiation " ? 8 

This is a question difficult to answer, because it will 
likely be misunderstood or disbelieved. 

Perhaps it would be better to defer the answer until 
those interested could study and reflect on the teachings 
in the books already alluded to. It may suffice here to 
say that the aim of real initiation is to first make one 
Master over himself. Then Master over the finer 
forces of life. This Grand Mastership is obtained 
through a knowledge, first, of the faculties, capacities, 
and powers of the Individual Intelligence; second, a 
knowledge of the nature of the finer forces. 

THE HIGHER EVOLUTION. 

Therefore, initiation means the exercise and the 
growth of the kingly powers of the human soul. That 
is to say, its higher evolution. 

6 See Chap. IV, "The Great Work," published by Indo-Ameri- 
can Book Co., Chicago. 



ALBERT PIKE AS MASTER OF WISDOM 1 

UPON this occasion I feel it my first duty to ex- 
press, to the Brethren in the Valley of Wheel- 
ing, my appreciation of the honor conferred 
upon me in giving to me this opportunity to publicly 
acknowledge my debt to the genius and wisdom of Al- 
bert Pike. 

If we take the idea of "one increasing purpose run- 
ning through all the ages" as a subject for study and 
verification, we shall sooner or later discover the golden 
thread that will enable us to unravel the warp and the 
woof of those intellectual tapestries which have been 
woven into various designs, catalogued as science, phi- 
losophy and religion. 

Clear conceptions as to the range and application of 
these terms have not always been a part of the working 
tools of those who have had most to do with instructing 
the growing intelligence of the race. The confusion 
existing in the use of the term, science, philosophy and 
religion, was woefully apparent at the beginning of our 
era. Had no confusion existed, the Fathers of the 
Church would not have quarreled for over three cen- 
turies as to the interpretation of the Doctrine of the 
Trinity. That momentous discussion was a political 
and not a religious one, made so by those Church 
Fathers whose ambitions were greater than their sense 
of justice; it was finally settled after first the Greek 
and then the Egyptian wing of the Church held the as- 
cendency. Settled by Constantine with his soldiers 
without the meeting place, and it caused a division be- 
tween the Greek and the Roman Catholic Churches, 
unhealed to this day. 

1 Oration at the Pike Centennial Anniversary, Wheeling, Vv\ 
Va., December 29, 1909. 

28 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 29 

If no confusion had existed, and continued to exist 
after the Council of Nice in 325 a. d., the Church of 
Rome would not have needed to invent the crucifix in 
the seventh century, because they lacked the true mean- 
ing of the Cross. Neither would they have waited un- 
til 1854 before making the Doctrine of the Immaculate 
Conception a dogma. The confusion was so great, and 
the designing Priests so entrenched, that the few 
Initiates, the few Masters of Wisdom among the 
Church Fathers, were unable to " pass on " the real 
and understandable interpretation of the birth, life and 
mission of our Brother Jesus, who was an initiate. 

The early Christians were a secret order. They 
spoke in parables and allegories to those who were not 
initiated, and Jesus, the Master, gave them their in- 
struction in secret and in a mystery ; Jesus said : " My 
doctrine is not mine, but His that sent me." 

St. Augustine, a Church Father, is authority for the 
statement : " What is now called the Christian Reli- 
gion, has existed among the Ancients and was not ab- 
sent from the beginning of the human race until Christ 
came in the flesh, from which time, the true reli- 
gion which existed already, began to be called Chris- 
tian." 

It would be easy for any one or all of you to find 
the evidence to support this statement. Our Brother 
Albert Pike has pointed out the line of investigation 
and you will find it beautifully clear in that great book 
of his, " Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Ac- 
cepted Scottish Rite." This evidence is also to be 
found in cave temples, on monuments, and in glyph and 
symbol widely scattered over the face of Mother Earth. 
Man has done much for man, and enduring monuments 
attest the efforts made in the past to aid the less in- 
formed by inspiring those " worthy and well qualified " 
to instruct the ignorant, that all might sooner or later 
come into their birthright; into the desire and into the 
ability to live according to one's standard of equity, 
justice and right. 



3 o SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

The greatest service one can render the world is to 
aid the evolution of humanity; by fostering these high 
ideals in one's own life, as the best way to help others 
in their journey along the mystic highway. 

From the fiery opal of the sunrise on the cradle of 
the human race in the Far East, to the cloudy amethyst 
of the present intellectual horizon, the discerning mind 
can see one aspect of the " increasing purpose running 
through the ages/' as that of secret teachings preserved 
in traditions, rites, and symbols. Deeper research will 
disclose the fact that this " Secret Doctrine " has been 
the inspiration of all religions of all ages. 

Even the exoteric side of religions shows this to be 
the fact. 

Had Rawlinson been a Mason, and a careful student 
along the lines so masterfully worked by Albert Pike, 
he could have cleared up many points for the benefit 
of those who acknowledge his authority. 

Rawlinson pursued the scientific method in his re- 
searches. He analyzed — separated — the material 
coming to his attention to ascertain the facts. Science 
is a method of study and research to acquire knowledge. 
To stop at this point is to invite confusion from incor- 
rect conclusions. A second step is necessary, requiring 
all the acumen of the scientist, in the ability to check 
the facts disclosed, and in addition, the mind of a phi- 
losopher, a real lover of wisdom, for that is what the 
word means. Now the method of philosophy is the ex- 
act opposite of the method of science. Science tears 
down. Philosophy re-builds. The philosopher studies 
facts and their relations in order to ascertain the under- 
lying laws. 

A deep and wide knowledge is required of the one 
who would pursue the philosophical method in order to 
find the hidden wisdom of the marvelous discoveries of 
science. He who attempts it in any one of its many 
departments, must indeed be " duly and truly prepared 
worthy and well qualified, ,, for at this point he becomes 
an interpreter, a teacher, and is on the road to master- 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 31 

ship, if the department selected is ethical and provided 
the interpreter lives the life to know the doctrine. 

Albert Pike was, in the best sense, a philosopher, his 
work was constructive, because his great talents fitted 
him to disclose the points of agreement in the teachings 
of the philosophers of old as well as the religions of the 
ancients. He sought for the points of agreement be- 
cause he knew that back of all was a secret doctrine, 
which is as old as man. 

We may curiously trace the ramifications of this idea 
in many ways, by the study of single words, a symbol, 
or by tracing back some of the present-day religious 
ceremonies. Let us follow the method of Albert Pike 
which led him onward and ever onward, searching for 
corroborative detail to elucidate the designs on the great 
trestle board of nature, as an aid to an army of cou- 
rageous Masonic warriors whose mission is to use the 
intellectual forces to liberate the chains that enslave so 
many of our fellow-beings. 

Down through the ages two forces have been en- 
gaged in a deadly conflict, a conflict that concerns all 
the past, a conflict that inthralls the present with evil 
forebodings and which bodes no good to the future 
with its myriads of yet to be full grown and responsible 
citizens. 

The one force finds to-day its nucleus for a universal, 
undogmatic, and unfettered manifestation in our grand 
Masonic, world-wide institution. 

The other force finds its field of operation in an or- 
ganized body that seeks to maintain itself without re- 
gard to the largest measure of individual liberty and 
enlightenment. 

Upon one side stands an institution that has " from 
time immemorial and through a succession of ages " 
given light to all its votaries. 

Upon the other side is entrenched an organization 
that champions ignorance, superstition and fear, and 
that dominates and controls the reason and conscience 
of its communicants. 



32 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

Now what has this to do with the method of study 
which we have alluded to as that advocated by Albert 
Pike — simply an illustration of the fact, that we can- 
not understand things if we examine them only at the 
point where we meet them. We must go back, to ante- 
cedent causes and when that method is followed we are 
in possession of a knowledge of the facts involved, and 
by understanding their relation, we can institute that 
comparison of ideas which is the first step in the final 
judgment of the case. 

As a student of the deeper things in Masonry, our es- 
teemed brother, whose memory we cherish at all times 
and honor on such special occasions as this, followed 
the clews of the Secret Doctrine, already alluded to; 
and amplified certain parts of it because of their direct 
bearing upon the teachings of Masonry. So we find 
him referring to the earliest records known to man, 
namely the Vedas of the Hindus, he has shown that as 
soon as the Brahmin priests began to prostitute their 
office to selfish ends, the Masters of Wisdom in those 
far-distant times formed a voluntary association of in- 
dividuals and taught in the mysteries a pure monothe- 
ism, the brotherhood of man, and a mathematics of 
ethics that led some few who had the qualifications, 
to a direct personal experience of the conscious self- 
identity of the individual intelligence independent of the 
physical body. 

These are fundamental teachings in Masonry to-day; 
by direct inspiration from the Mysteries, they were 
given in parables and allegory to the Chaldeans, Per- 
sians, Babylonians and all other ancient peoples and 
found a resting place in the Kabalah of the Hebrews; 
a secret teaching from which Judaism is a branch. Di- 
rectly related to the Kabalah is the institution we have 
the honor to represent as Masons. 

There is ample evidence in the pages of that monu- 
mental work " Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and 
Accepted Scottish Rite " that Albert Pike knew whereof 
he has written on the Kabalah, for he makes over sixty 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 33 

references to it, scattered through the book, covering, 
in many instances, several pages for each reference. 

The word Kabalah means " to receive " ; it refers to 
a secret teaching of the Ancient Mysteries given to the 
Hebrews to recall to memory older traditions of the 
more ancient Secret Doctrine. It is symbolic in its 
method, and by it we are able to discover a concealed 
reading of the Books of Moses in our Bible that har- 
monizes its allegories, and there is unfolded a logical 
doctrine connecting our teachings in the Great Light 
with those of all other ancient teachings, as all were de- 
rived from the same source. 

The Kabalah taught the doctrine of the Unity of God ; 
in the eyes of the Kabalist, all men are brothers, and 
their relative ignorance is to him, but a reason for in- 
structing them. As each letter of the Hebrew alphabet 
has a numerical value, certain rules were formulated by 
which the combination of numbers stood for certain He- 
brew words, and words of the same numerical value 
were used as synonyms. Concealed meanings were thus 
conveyed to those who knew the rules of the various 
combinations. 

If I may be permitted to digress from the interesting 
subject of the Kabalah, which you may study for your- 
selves in Ginsberg's " Essay on the Kabalah," as a start- 
ing point, I would like to allude to the symbolism of the 
number seven, not because it is directly related to the 
Kabalah, but because it further illustrates the value of 
that deeper study so ably done by Albert Pike and so 
generously distributed to his less informed brethren in 
his books and writings. 

The sacred number seven figures in every ancient re- 
ligion, because at their foundation was an accurate 
conception of the underlying principles of Science, 
Philosophy and Religion. The sages and masters of 
Wisdom of old, did not invent the septenary division ; 
they found the natural seven-fold division in their study 
of light and sound, and wisely followed the divine plan 
as soon as they recognized it. You may study in many 



34 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

ways, the sacred number Seven, in the seven altars of 
Mithras, the seven spheres, the seven sacred sciences, 
the seven planets or the seven seals of the Book of Rev- 
elations. 

This is not all as fanciful as some writers make it ap- 
pear; go deep enough and the pure gold of true concep- 
tions will reward your search. For, be it known that 
there is a law of septiform periodicity whose operations 
may be seen in the completion by weeks of the phe- 
nomena of birth, growth and maturity. It even dom- 
inates the very constitution of matter; arrange the 
chemical elements according to their atomic weights and 
they will form a continuous series of groups of seven. 
This is known in Chemistry as Mendeleef's law of sep- 
tiform periodicity, the discovery of which enabled him 
to correct the atomic weight of the elements, to discern 
new properties of old elements, and last but not least, to 
bring to light the newer elements. 

Albert Pike advocated, and was the exponent of the 
deeper study of Masonry. No labor was too great, no 
research too arduous. His goal was to show, unmis- 
takably the honorable lineage of Freemasonry; his pur- 
pose to demonstrate its need as the friend and helper of 
the great Orphan — humanity. 

I have briefly sketched a few data bearing upon my 
subject and have endeavored to show that wisdom im- 
plies knowledge, knowledge implies understanding, and 
therefore wisdom includes the powers of discernment 
and discrimination, in the formation of correct con- 
clusions. The ability to exercise these powers in the 
lofty conceptions of those Masters of Wisdom like 
Plato, Pythagoras, Ammonius Saccus, Basilides, Con- 
fucius, Philo, Zoroaster, and a host of others, whose 
writings Albert Pike thoroughly understood, qualifies 
him, who interprets their message in terms that will 
serve the cause of humanity, for Mastership in Wis- 
dom. 

Albert Pike labored to elucidate conflicting views, to 
show the purpose running through all time, and so he 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 35 

endeavored to supplant ignorance by knowledge, fear 
by self-reliance and superstition by Wisdom. 

Plato has said : 

" He who knows not the common things of life is a 
brute among men. He who knows only the common 
things of life is a man among brutes. But he who 
knows all that can be learned by diligent inquiry is a 
god among men." And this is the sentiment I hold and 
would leave with you in this, my tribute to Albert 
Pike, who deserves the appellation " Master of Wis- 
dom " as the crown jewel in a diadem of good works. 



THE CINCINNATI MASONIC STUDY SCHOOL * 



ALONG-TALKED-OF class for the^ study of 
Masonry has just been launched in Cincin- 
nati. 

Cooperation often solves problems and enables us to 
accomplish things impossible to the individuals. Just as 
hydrogen, the most explosive of gases, and oxygen, the 
supporter of combustion, show entirely different capaci- 
ties and powers when combined. The combination in 
the proportion of two of hydrogen to one of oxygen, 
contrary to reasoning from cause to effect, will quench 
fire, instead of supporting it and adding to it destruc- 
tion by explosions. So too, an association of individ- 
uals for the purpose of coming to a better understanding 
to a common cause, will disclose capacities not dreamed 
of when contemplating the efforts of a single individ- 
ual. 

As Brother Pitts, in the January (1910) issue of The 
American Freemason, says : " The way to begin the 
study of Masonry is to begin." The demand for a 
study class has been very much stimulated by a course 
of lectures, one every month during the winter season 
(1909-1910), under the auspices of the Hamilton County 
Masonic Library Association. The demand for books 
has materially increased, and on account of much that 
is superficial in Masonic literature, those who are new 
to Masonic research have felt the need of the study 
class. We have not formed an organization, but what 
may best be called a voluntary association of Masons, 
seeking a deeper knowledge of Masonic symbolism and 

1 American Free Mason, 1910. 

36 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 37 

philosophy. We have adopted a very simple constitu- 
tion and by-laws, identical with the one used by the 
Fargo, North Dakota, Masonic Study School which 
started on its career October 23, 1908. So our con- 
stitution reads as follows : 

CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS, AND INITIATORY REQUIRE- 
MENTS OF THE MASONIC STUDY SCHOOL, 
CINCINNATI, OHIO. 

(Formed February 2, 1910.) 

1. The name of the organization shall be the Masonic 
Study School. 

2. The objects of this organization shall be: First, 
the study of Freemasonry in its moral, philosophical, 
fraternal, historical, social, religious and other aspects, 
the better to understand its purposes and teachings and 
apply them in the daily life of each individual member, 
so far as he accepts them to be true. Second, to pro- 
vide a recognized means for the discussion and exchange 
of ideas suggested by the study. 

3. Any Master Mason may be eligible to membership 
as provided in Article X. 

4. The officers of this organization shall be chairman, 
secretary and reader. Each member of the organiza- 
tion shall succeed to the office of chairman in the alpha- 
betical order of his surname, except in the event of his 
being secretary or reader, when the succession shall fall 
to the next in order. He shall perform the duties of his 
office from the beginning of one meeting to the next 
succeeding meeting and shall never immediately succeed 
himself. In the event of his absence, the next in alpha- 
betical order shall become chairman. The secretary 
and reader shall succeed to their offices in like manner, 
except that they shall serve for the term of three cal- 
endar months. In the event of the absence of either, 
the chairman shall appoint in alphabetical order, thereby 
exemplifying the Masonic doctrine of equality in hon- 
ors and privileges. 



38 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

5. The chairman shall appoint committees, preside 
and perform the usual duties of a presiding offi- 
cer. 

The secretary shall keep all records required and rolls 
of membership, and conduct all correspondence. 

The reader shall read the papers of those not present 
or of other who, for any reason, are disinclined to read 
their own papers. He shall, by direction of the chair- 
man, give due notice to those who are to prepare papers 
or to lecture before the organization. 

6. Meetings shall be held in the Hamilton County 
Masonic Library rooms, in the Masonic Temple, two 
times a month, or at such other time and place as may 
be agreed. No meeting is to be prolonged more than 
one hour except by unanimous vote. 

7. Quorum — Three shall constitute. 

All motions shall be decided by a majority — all pres- 
ent voting. 

8. Amendments to these articles may be made at any 
regular meeting by a majority vote of those present, 
provided one week has intervened since the first read- 
ing of such proposed amendment and the vote thereon. 

9. There shall be no dues, fees nor assessments for 
any purpose. 

10. The following questions shall comprise initiation 
to this organization, and the answers thereto approved 
by those present at any regular meeting. 

The questions and answers shall be promptly re- 
turned to the initiate in every case, and without record 
in writing being made of them. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. What is Masonry? 

2. What is Morality? 

3. What constitutes a true Mason? 

4. What do you understand by Friendship? 5. By 
Patience? 6. By Temperance? 7. By Fortitude? 
8. What do you understand by Masonic Charity? 



.MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 39 

9. Of what are you in search that you would hope or 
expect to receive from this organization? 

10. What use do you expect to make of the knowl- 
edge you may obtain ? 

11. In the event you decide to become an active mem- 
ber of this organization, are you ready and willing to 
enter with the same mutual consideration, confidence, 
and good will, and with the same desire to do your part 
which now exists among all members? 

12. If you decide to become a member, are you will- 
ing and able to embody the discoveries you may make in 
Masonry, in your daily life, so far as you shall accept 
them to be true builders of constructive human char- 
acter? 

Signed 

Notice. Upon your answers to the foregoing ques- 
tions depends your reception into the Masonic Study 
School. 

Your admittance to the Order will not depend so 
much upon the correctness of your answers, as upon 
the interest and sincerity displayed. 

Make your answers definitions, rather than essays. 

This paper and your answers will be returned to you 
without a record having been made of them. 

You may take all the time you wish to answer these 
questions, and when ready, hand them to a member of 
the Masonic Study School, to be presented and read at 
a regular meeting " as all brothers and fellows have 
done before." 

As there were but two of us to discuss the matter 
and to make a beginning, we did so in the spirit of 
" where two or three are gathered in My name," etc. 
And the list of questions, which are the initiatory re- 
quirements of the Study School, were answered in 
writing, by each one of us ; one student sending his an- 
swers to the other, because there were but two of us to 
start the work, and we wanted to preserve the Masonic 
spirit through the same experience in gaining admission 
to the Study School. 



40 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

We began our studies by reading a certain number 
of pages in Brother J. D. Buck's " Mystic Masonry " 
which was of course, a lesson upon which a week or 
two of thought had been spent by the members before 
coming to the class meeting. For each succeeding les- 
son two members of the Study School were assigned to 
prepare ten questions each, upon the subject-matter of 
the lesson. The discussion will be confined within 
these limits. The chairman for the evening will en- 
deavor to present a leading thought gleaned from the 
lesson for that particular time. This will make three 
people taking part in a definite way, and to close the 
meeting, one other member will be selected to present a 
leading thought as the result of the discussion. 

We began our reading with the title page, which 
reads as follows : " Mystic Masonry, or the Symbols 
of Freemasonry, and the Greater Mysteries of An- 
tiquity." 

The very first question came at this point, and some- 
one asked : " What are the Greater Mysteries of An- 
tiquity ? " The summing up of the discussion, herewith 
presented, can in no way convey to the reader the in- 
tense interest we all felt as our talk progressed. The 
many subsidiary questions and the little touches of 
"give and take" in our mild-mannered argument only 
served to show us all that we were trying to find out 
all the points of agreement first, and that our main ef- 
fort was directed to telling what we meant by the words 
and phrases we used. Thus the points of difference 
were illuminated, and the satisfaction to us all came 
from the knowledge that we were comparing views; 
not trying to proselyte, or to beat another in an argu- 
ment, or in any way to win over an antagonistic 
brother; we had no antagonisms in reality and as best 
I can, I shall try to epitomize the whole discussion for 
the benefit of interested Brethren who are removed by 
distance from meeting with us. 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 41 



THE TRUE MYSTERIES APPROVED BY THE WISE MEN OF OLD. 

The word " Mysteries " is derived from the Greek 
c< muo," i. e., to close the mouth. Every symbol of the 
mysteries had a hidden meaning. The Ancient Mys- 
teries taught, first by dramatic representation ; second, 
by precept; and third, by demonstration through a per- 
sonal experience (to the few " well qualified and duly 
prepared ") the conscious self -identity of the Individual 
Intelligence or Soul, in any and all states of conscious- 
ness, in or out of the body, before and after death. 
Such was the chief object of the Ancient Mysteries, 
which have been represented as diabolical by theology, 
and ridiculed by modern psychologists and symbologists. 
To disbelieve that there exist in man certain arcane pow- 
ers, which by psychological study he can develop in 
himself to the highest degree, become a Master-Man, 
and then impart the '* secret " to others " justly entitled 
to the same " is to cast an imputation of falsehood and 
insanity upon a number of the best, purest and most 
learned men of antiquity and the Middle Ages. 
And yet Pythagoras, Plato, Iamblichus, Proclus, Hip- 
pocrates, Moses, Herodotus, Thales, Parmenides, 
Empedocles, Orpheus, Origen, Apollonius and many 
others knew and affirmed the purity, sanctity and reality 
of the " Great Work of the Mysteries." 

SECRET INITIATIONS VERY OLD. 

Such are the ideas of the intellectual and enlightened 
few among the ancient Hebrews. It is certain that they 
possessed a knowledge of the true nature and attributes 
of God; as the same class of men did among the other 
nations — Zoroaster, Manu, Confucius, Socrates and 
Plato. But their doctrines on this subject were 
esoteric ; they did not communicate them to the people 
at large, but only a favored few ; and so they were com- 
municated in Egypt and India, in Persia and Phoenicia, 



42 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

in Greece and Samothrace, in the greater mysteries, to 
the initiates. 



Among most of the Ancient Nations there was, in 
addition to their public worship, a private one styled 
the Mysteries; to which those only were admitted who 
had been prepared by certain ceremonies called initia- 
tions. 

The most widely disseminated of the ancient wor- 
ships were those of Isis, Orpheus, Dionysus, Ceres and 
Mithras. Many nations received the knowledge of the 
mysteries, in honor of these divinities, from the Egyp- 
tians, before they arrived in Greece; and even in the 
British Isles the Druids celebrated those of Dionysus, 
learned by them from the Egyptians. 

OBJECT OF THE MYSTERIES. 

Clemens of Alexandria says that what was taught in 
the great mysteries concerned the universe, and was 
the completion and perfection of all instruction ; wherein 
things were seen as they were, and nature and her works 
were made known. 

Plato said that the object of the mysteries was to 
reestablish the soul in its primitive purity, and in that 
state of perfection which it had lost. Epictetus said, 
" Whatever is met with therein has been instituted by 
our Masters, for the instruction of man and correction 
of morals." 

Proclus held that initiation elevated the soul from a 
material, sensual, and purely human life, to a communion 
and celestial intercourse with the gods; and that a 
variety of things, forms and species were shown ini- 
tiates, representing the first generation of the gods. 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 43 



TAUGHT/ 

Fiirity of morals and elevation of soul were required 
of the initiates. Candidates were required to be £>f 
spotless reputation and irreproachable virtue. Nero, 
after murdering his mother, did not dare to be present 
at the celebration of the mysteries ; and Antony pre- 
sented himself to be initiated, as the most infallible 
mode of proving his innocence of the death of Avidius 
Cassius. 

The initiates were regarded as the only fortunate 
men. " It is upon us alone," says Aristophanes, 
u shineth the beneficent day star. We alone receive 
pleasure from the influence of his rays; we who are 
initiated, and who practice toward citizen and stranger 
every possible act of justice and piety." And it is 
therefore not surprising that, in time, initiation came to 
be considered as necessary as baptism afterward was to 
the Christians; and that not to have been admitted to 
the Mysteries was held a dishonor. 

THE BENEFICENT EFFECT OF THE MYSTERIES. 

" It seems to me," says the great orator, philosopher 
and moralist, Cicero, " that Athens, among many excel- 
lent inventions, divine and very useful to the human 
family, has produced none comparable to the mysteries, 
which for a wild and ferocious life have substituted hu- 
manity and urbanity of manners. It is with good reason 
they use the term initiation; for it is through them that 
we in reality have learned the first principles of life ; and 
they not only teach us to live in a manner more consol- 
ing and agreeable, but they soften the pains of death 
by the hope of a better life hereafter." 

ORIGIN AND UNIVERSALITY OF THE MYSTERIES. 

Where the Mysteries originated is not known. It is 
supposed that they came from India, by the way of 



44 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

Chaldea, into Egypt, and thence were carried into 
Greece. Wherever they arose, they were practiced 
among all the ancient nations; and as usual, the Thra- 
cians, Cretans and Athenians each claimed the honor 
of the invention and each insisted they had borrowed 
nothing from any other people. 

In Egypt and the East, all religion, even in its most 
poetical forms, was more or less a mystery; and the 
chief reason why, in Greece, a distinct name and office 
were assigned to the mysteries, was because the super- 
ficial popular theology left a want unsatisfied, which 
religion in a wider sense alone could satisfy. They 
were practical acknowledgments of the insufficiency of 
the popular religion to satisfy the deeper thoughts and 
aspirations of the mind. The vagueness of symbolism 
might perhaps reach what a more palpable and conven- 
tional creed could not. The former, by its indefinite- 
ness, acknowledged the abstruseness of its subject; it 
treated a mysterious subject mystically; it endeavored 
to illustrate what it could not explain; to excite an ap- 
propriate feeling, if it could not develop an adequate 
idea; and made the image a mere subordinate convey- 
ance for the conception, which itself never became too 
obvious or familiar. 

SECRET AND PUBLIC DOCTRINES. 

The instruction now conveyed by books and letters 
was of old conveyed by symbols, and the hierophants 
of the mysteries had to invent or perpetuate a display 
of rites and ceremonies, which were not only more at- 
tractive to the eye than words, but were to the mind 
more suggestive and pregnant with meaning, and this 
was for the popular mind — the so-called " profanes." 

Afterward the institution became moral and political, 
rather than religious. The civil magistrates shaped the 
ceremonies to political ends in Egypt; the sages who 
carried them from that country to Asia, Greece, and the 
north of Europe, were all kings or legislators. The 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 45 

chief magistrate in the real Mysteries presided at those 
of Eleusis, represented by an officer styled King; and 
the Priests played but a subordinate part. 

" WHILE TRAVELING THROUGH THIS VALE OF TEARS." 

Plutarch assures us that it was to represent the events 
and details of the Soul's journey through life that Isis 
established the mysteries, in which they were repro- 
duced by images, symbols and a religious ceremonial, 
whereby they were initiated ; and in which lessons of 
piety were given, and consolations under the misfor- 
tunes that afflict us here below. Those who instituted 
these mysteries meant to strengthen religion and console 
men in their sorrows by the lofty hopes found in a 
religious faith, whose principles were represented to 
them covered by a pompous ceremonial, and under the 
sacred veil of allegory. 

RELIGION — NOT RELIGIONS. 

Aristotle says they were the most valuable of all reli- 
gious institutions, and thus were called Mysteries par 
excellence; and the Temple of Eleusis was regarded as, 
in some sort, the common sanctuary of the whole earth, 
where religion had brought together all that was most 
imposing and most august. 

ALL THE " SACRED SCIENCES " TAUGHT. 

Zoroaster and Confucius drew their doctrines from 
the mysteries; Clemens of Alexandria, speaking of the 
Great Mysteries, says : " Here ends all instruction. 
Nature and all things are seen and known." Had moral 
truths alone been taught the Initiate, the Mysteries could 
never have deserved or received the magnificent 
eulogiums of the most enlightened men of Antiquity — 
of Pindar, Plutarch, Isocrates, Diodorus, Plato, Soc- 
rates, Aristophanes, Cicero, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius 



46 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

and others; — philosophers hostile to the sacerdotal 
spirit, or historians devoted to the investigation of Truth. 
No: all the sciences were taught there; and those oral 
or written traditions briefly communicated, which 
reached back to the first age of the world. 

II 

The preceding reports of the Cincinnati Masonic Study 
School, published in 1910 in The American Freemason, 
dealt with the " Ancient Mysteries " and the book we 
are studying shows the relation of modern Freemasonry 
thereto. Before we settled down and determined to 
stick to one book, by a recognized Masonic authority, 
we tried several plans. 

One of our members suggested that we take each de- 
gree, and begin at the beginning and study the meaning 
of each thing that was done. The subjects were por- 
tioned out and when we met at the regular time, very 
little was forthcoming. 

Why? Because our modern work is a result of pre- 
ceding causes. To understand Masonry we must study 
it as a world wide movement, a movement that had its 
origin in the remote ages of a dim and distant past. 

The ritual might be published to the world, word for 
word, the signs and grips illustrated, and passwords re- 
vealed. What then ? Nothing but the outer husk would 
be discerned, and the reader of such an expose would 
be but little wiser and would soon forget. Suppose that 
he did not forget, and worked his way into lodges, re- 
peatedly, very little would come to him as to what it is 
all about. 

The secrets of Freemasonry are locked up in its sym- 
bolism. He would, if he had the opportunity of hearing 
a few talks on the deeper side of Masonry, find out an- 
other meaning for the word " work." All that such talks 
can do for anyone is to excite interest, to show the way ; 
and to really know, the individual must travel the road 
for himself. Many times he would be weary, ready to 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 47 

give up the search, but some Brother who had passed 
that way before, could offer aid, and so renew his in- 
terest. 

So as we threshed out the subject of the "work" it 
was disclosed to our minds, that the time to study the 
meaning of the ritual, as we now have it, comes a long 
way in the future. We must gather knowledge point by 
point, and from time to time '* light " breaks in upon 
the dark places. After struggling up the rough places 
to rest on the hill, we have time to look back, to take 
account of stock, as it were ; and lo ! we have gathered 
something; we have found a jewel or two, and our faith 
in the direction we are taking is more sure. 

Soon we make the discovery that knowledge belongs 
only to him who, having it, gives it away to those " duly 
and truly prepared, worthy and well qualified to re- 
ceive it." 

Why? Because in passing it on, one must formulate 
it in such a way that the other one can understand. This 
makes it sure in the mind of the one who gives. Then 
the spirit of giving in a Masonic sense, must be undog- 
matic. It must be given, as if one were displaying a 
" design on the trestle board " ; to be looked at, examined 
and studied. The one who receives, submits it to his 
reason, measures it by the " gauge " of his own standard 
of equity, justice and right, and accepts what appeals to 
him in the light of his accumulated knowledge and ex- 
perience, both the giver and the receiver, reserving the 
right to modify matters in the light of a larger experience. 

This is the spirit of the teaching in the " Ancient Mys- 
teries " and this is eminently Masonic. 

One of the hardest problems in the whole process is 
that of giving. To be complete, there must be a receiver. 
" To him that hath, it shall be given ; to him that hath 
not, it shall be taken away." 

So few are ready to receive. So few " have " the de- 
sire to know because " to know " involves " living the life 
to know the doctrine." 

So often the inquiry comes back, " What doctrine ? " 



48 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

So few, so very few, inquire " What Life to Live ? " 
Those few soon find it. Those few then learn that " the 
Doctrine " is revealed by " living the life." The " Mys- 
teries " begin to unfold in his own nature, and the an- 
cient maxim of the Master Hermes, " As above, so be- 
low," begins to pulsate with life and light. 

It is all simple enough and that is why it escapes the 
unaware. 

The world has divided itself by itself. Symbols were 
made use of to conceal, not to reveal. Allegories were 
made use of so that those who were uninitiated might 
have the benefit of some of the teaching. 

The universal language of symbolism veils the truth 
from the profane, yet it enables the wise, among all na- 
tions, throughout all time, to read it in their own lan- 
guage. 

Parables and allegories carry the truth to the unlet- 
tered, as an aid in shaping character, inspiring hope, and 
destroying ignorance. 

The wise need no interpreters. 

But when the parables and the allegories are explained 
by " those who know " symbolism, then comes the con- 
flict of so-called authorities; and here enters dogma and 
creed, and " thus saith the Lord." All the demands of 
the Soul can be satisfied; reason does not need to be 
chained; the paralyzing force of fear is not necessary; 
and superstition can be left to wither beside the growing 
seed of knowledge. 

The appeal is, too often, to the " letter of the law," 
the literal interpretation, always undertaken by one who 
thinks he understands the moment he meets the (to him) 
new thought. The wise man says : " Look at it so- 
and-so, put it into practice, live it and live with it ; your 
own Soul, your own experience, will help you to decide." 
The wise know, that a thing is not understood in all its 
parts where it is first met. They look at the antecedents. 
They know that the Divine Architect of the Universe has 
put the truth into the world in many forms, in many 
ages, among all peoples. They look for points of agree- 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 49 

ment, and they have thus come to understand that the 
truth is the property of him who " lives the life," be that 
life lived in India, Egypt, Babylonia, Chaldea, Israel, 
Peru, Mexico, the Easter Isles, or here in America. 
For all over the land, wherever man has left an endur- 
ing monument, be it material, be it the printed page, or 
be it the " living of a life," there the symbols, the para- 
bles, the allegories, and the teaching can be found. 

The study of Masonry is all of this and " the wages 
of a Master " await the aspiring candidate. 



Ill 

HUMAN SACRIFICES. 

In the course of the study of Masonry by the Cincin- 
nati Masonic Study School, our latest discussion in the 
reading of " Mystic Masonry " came in connection with 
the real meaning of the phrase " as living stones in that 
spiritual building not made with hands," etc. It was 
desired to know what connection, if any, it had with the 
theory that in ancient times a human being was impris- 
oned alive in the corner-stone of a new temple. 

This theory is held by many students of archaeology, 
but is not in keeping with the teachings of ancient Ma- 
sonry. The question is most directly met by a counter- 
inquiry : What are the teachings of ancient Masonry ? 

First, we must be prepared to consider another view of 
human progress aside from the one that considers man 
as a higher evolution from the brute and the savage. 
The customs of these lower races have been studied, re- 
sulting in the deduction that human victims - were sacri- 
ficed to propitiate the earth demons whose place of abode 
was violated in the erection of temples and altars, no 
matter how rude. As civilization advanced, the victim 
was not purchased or forced ; but he voluntarily offered 
himself, that the protection of the Deity might be se- 
cured to ward off evil influence. Further advancement 
with the increased regard for the sacredness of human 



50 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

life, so this theory postulates, the human victim was 
placed in the hollow prepared in the corner-stone, from 
which he later escaped by a secret way of egress. Some 
Masonic writers step in at this point and state that they 
" believe the third degree of Speculative Masonry is 
based on this ' sacrifice/ which the ancients believed to 
be indispensable to the security and permanence of any 
important structure." 

The matter of a human sacrifice is like the phallic 
theory in regard to the origin of religious worship. When 
the key to the ancient teachings and symbols is lost, 
speculation takes the place of real knowledge. Both are 
degraded doctrines and both are used by the enemies of 
Masonry to confound and confute the teachings of the 
noblest institution of man. 

Students of Masonry soon learn that but little progress 
is made in its study from the historical standpoint. 
Why? Because the real secrets of Masonry are locked 
up in symbolism, and not in history. 

MASONRY IN INDIA. 

Pushing our way into the oldest literature known to the 
world, we find a curious parallelism to Masonry in India. 
India has no written history known to the outer world, 
before the Mohammedan invasion in the thirteenth cen- 
tury. This is a paradox, because India possesses a writ- 
ten literature equal in variety and extent to any pos- 
sessed by any nation; and this too before the adoption 
of printing. The advocates of the " savage to cultured 
man theory " must give us the history of the progenitors 
of the ancient Hindus. Because the Vedas of the 
Hindus, with their Upanishads (i.e., secret knowl- 
edge) form a literature of vast extent, older than any 
known written works. Add to all of this, the Puranas 
(i.e., tales of old times) and we have a body of doctrine 
mixed with mythology and tradition such as no nation 
can equal. To further show the great progress man had 
made so far back in the dim and misty past, we should 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 51 

consider the two great epics of India, surpassing in ex- 
tent and equaling in merit, those of any ancient nation. 
In addition to these India has ancient treatises on law, 
grammar, astronomy, metaphysics, mathematics and men- 
tal science, numbering up in the thousands, and not one 
can be called historical. 

No man in India ever thought of recording the events 
of his own life, or of repeating the experiences of an- 
other ; and only subsequent to the Christian era do they 
fix eras from which to date deeds and events. Then, 
how are we to establish the antiquity of the Vedas? On 
astronomical data educed by Krishna Shastri Godbola, 
of Bombay, proving that the Vedas were taught twenty- 
five thousand years ago. 

The " secret knowledge," the " secret keys " to the 
mysteries of the Vedas ; and the " tales of old times " 
have proven a Chinese wall in the way of the profane 
investigator. Superficial theories have been advanced 
by oriental students as to what the old (Vedic) teach- 
ings are; and until less materialism is shown in modes 
of thought, writers will continue to grope in the dark. 
Blind leaders of the blind will advance " human sacri- 
fice " and " phallic " theories, to account for religious 
worship and Masonic symbolism. 

It should be more generally known, that the collective 
researches of orientalists and especially the labors of the 
students of comparative philology and religion have led 
them to ascertain as follows: An incalculable number 
of manuscripts and printed works, known to have ex- 
isted, are now to be found no more. They have disap- 
peared without leaving the slightest trace behind them. 
Works of no importance might thus disappear and even 
their very names be lost. But this case is far different. 

Why? 

Because the lost books contained the keys to books now 
extant and entirely incomprehensible without these ad- 
ditional volumes of commentaries and explanations. 
The great Emperor Akbar (1 556-1605) the greatest Mo- 
hammedan sovereign of India, by bribes and threats 



52 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

failed to extort from the Brahmans the complete text 
of the Vedas. In Akbar's reign the last of the precious 
manuscripts were safely secured long before his threat- 
ening demands were made. Treasures for inspec- 
tion, such as these priceless manuscripts, are waiting the 
time for an unprejudiced and an enlightened examination 
by those who want to know the truth ; by those who will 
use such knowledge as these books reveal, solely for the 
benefit of man in evolving his spiritual faculties and 
powers. 

Again we ask : — " What are the teachings of ancient 
Masonry ? " Certainly not, in the light of the foregoing, 
" human sacrifices " for any purpose whatever. The 
third degree of Masonry and its meaning, are far away 
and beyond the ken of those who can dig no deeper than 
the rites and ceremonies of savages, or even peoples of 
a higher order, who show by even a tacit adherence to 
such a doctrine, their complete ignorance of the ancient 
secret knowledge. 

Man ought to be ever striving to help the divine evolu- 
tion of ideas, by becoming to the best of his ability " well 
instructed and informed " and line up in the gigantic task 
of bringing to light " the fact that Man's value to him- 
self as an individual is the only sure and true measure 
of his value as an active, living factor in the social or- 
ganism of which he is a part " ; in contradistinction to 
that organization which makes the false claim to hold the 
keys of heaven; and has proceeded and will ever con- 
tinue to proceed " upon the assumption that man has but 
one value, namely, his value to the great aggregate body 
of which he is a part, and that his value, even in that 
capacity, is measured by the degree to which his indi- 
vidual will, intelligence and conscience are subject to 
the domination and control of that aggregate body." 

The Great Architect of the Universe should have his 
shrine and altar on the holy and ever untrodden ground 
of our hearts — invisible, intangible, unmentioned, save 
through the " still, small voice " of our spiritual con- 
sciousness. Those who worship before it ought to do 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 53 

so in the silence and the sanctified solitude of their souls. 
" When thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites 
are . . . but enter into thine inner chamber, and having 
shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret." 
(Matt, vi.) u For the kingdom of Fleaven is within 
you." And it was always the teaching, that we make our 
spirit and not the priest the sole mediator between our 
souls and God. 

REAL SACRIFICE. 

The Doctrine of Sacrifice is a true teaching. Sacri- 
fice of life, human or animal, is a later interpretation 
widely divergent from the ancient teaching. The only 
real sacrifice possible is the substitution of good actions 
and service to humanity, for bad intentions and per- 
sonal gains through selfish motives. The Saviours of 
the world, Krishna the Hindu ; Gautama the Buddha ; 
Zoroaster the Persian ; Sosiosh the Mazdean ; Herzam 
the Druse; and Jesus the Christos, all made this real 
sacrifice the cornerstone of their teaching, which may be 
likened to their theory of life and its possibilities. But 
each demonstrated the truth of the theory by living a 
life in accordance with the teaching, in which the lower 
life is sacrificed to the higher life. The reward is a 
growth in the intuitive faculties of the Soul; a quicker 
apprehension ; a deeper comprehension ; an intuitive con- 
viction in the conscious self-identity of the individual 
intelligence (soul of man) independent of the physical 
body ; and finally a personal knowledge of the ever-liv- 
ing Soul gained by a special process and teaching. Such 
an one gradually finds and knows " the way " ; he be- 
comes " the truth " ; and he " loses his life " only to 
" find it " on a higher spiritual plane. Therefore the 
third degree of Masonry has no foundation in the sac- 
rifice of human life in the manner ascribed to it by the 
eminent writer John Yarker in a recent Masonic article. 



THE MASTER'S SALUTATORY 1 

IN assuming the duties of the high office in which 
you have been pleased to place me, I desire to ex- 
press my deep appreciation of the honor ; and to as- 
sure you that I shall endeavor to discharge all the re- 
sponsibilities I hereby assume, along the Masonic lines 
of equity, justice and right, to the best of my ability. 

The example of my predecessors in office shall ever 
be my guide. I feel sure of the devotion of the officers 
and the assistance of the brethren, in impressively con- 
ferring the degrees, and in conducting the business of 
the Lodge. 

The Master of a Masonic Lodge is simply one of its 
members, selected to direct all lodge matters, to the end 
that harmony may prevail in thought and in action. In 
this each member assists, guided by his own standard 
of right ; and when the work goes on with such a motive 
back of it, the result is sure to be a just modification of 
some of our own views, to secure the welfare of the 
Lodge. This welfare must be above and beyond indi- 
vidual preference of what is best. 

Any other view dwarfs the grand work Masonry has 
done, and hampers the great work it ought to do now 
and for the future. 

When we take a survey of the world, to-day, we see 
that wherever ignorance, superstition and fear, domi- 
nate the masses, there Freemasonry has no wide activity. 

Wherever knowledge, self-reliance and courage ani- 
mate the people, there liberty, enlightenment, and happi- 
ness are the great lights to lead the way toward inde- 
pendent thought and right action. 

Wherever general education is under restraint of caste 
or creed, there enduring liberty cannot live. 

1 December, 1905 — Avon Lodge No. 542, Cincinnati, O. 

54 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 55 

Wherever general education is directed toward de- 
veloping all the faculties, capacities and powers of the 
children, there sturdy and independent thinkers arise to 
perpetuate the Divine Right of everyone to liberty of 
thought and of conscience. 

The history of Masonry needs a wider reading by 
Masons than it has yet had, in order that Masons may 
clearly discern that they have duties and obligations, as 
members of society and citizens of whatever country to 
which they owe allegiance ; and these obligations are as 
much a part of their life as the crying needs of com- 
mercial and professional life. 

The history of Masonry shows what its enemies have 
tried to do to kill it ; failing in that, to warp its real power 
for good, and sink it to the dead level of a mere social 
union, held together by a few grips and passwords with 
no conception of its past grand work, nor glimpse of its 
present mission. 

Its past work is written into the history of many coun- 
tries, for wherever has arisen a champion of that which 
zvas equally right for all the people, there stood a Mason 
in his heart, even though not a member of a Masonic 
Lodge. 

The framers of the Declaration of Independence were, 
many of them, Masons. 

Did they attempt to direct matters into any narrow 
channel of cult or creed? 

No! 

They did put into the Grand document principles, 
which every Mason hears inculcated in the ritualistic 
work of the Lodge. 

The mission of Masonry is to foster those same prin- 
ciples, which grant to everyone the inalienable right of 
life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. 

" Masonry," says Albert Pike, in " Morals and 
Dogma " " is the descendant of that higher science held 
by the ancient teachers of those ancient religions that 
once illuminated the minds of men." 

Considering the fact, that these ancient faiths taught 



56 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

a secret, as well as an open doctrine, as did Christianity 
in its early day ; we come to the mysteries handed down 
from generation to generation, in secret traditions; 
given to those ready to receive and to properly impart 
them. 

This science was known as the Gnosis. 

The Gnostics derived their leading doctrines and ideas 
from Plato and Philo; the Zendavesta of the Persians; 
the Kabalah of the Hebrews; and the sacred books of 
Egypt and India; and thus introduced in the early days 
of Christianity, that which formed a large part of the 
ancient teachings of the Orient. 

These ancient teachings enlarge upon the Masonic 
trinity — Divinity, Brotherhood and Immortality. They 
taught that he who would be a great soul in the future, 
must be a great soul now. 

They recognized the fact that few could ever thor- 
oughly satisfy themselves with their own arguments in 
respect to their own nature. That few could demon- 
strate to themselves, with a conclusiveness that could 
elevate the belief to certainty, that they were immortal 
souls dwelling only temporarily in the house and en- 
velope of physical bodies. 

So the Wise Men of the East took the candidate as- 
piring: 

To know himself. 

To Will to live strictly in accord with that which his 
reason and conscience approved as right. 

To Dare to start on the road to develop the powers of 
his soul. 

To keep Silent, except to the initiated, of much that 
concerns this knowledge and this school. 

We must first satisfy ourselves that such work is 
really what Masonry regards as work. 

The eleventh chapter of Albert Pike's book, " Morals 
and Dogma," will further enlighten any inquiring Ma- 
sonic Mind. 

The mission of Masonry can be grandly fulfilled by 
a life directed along the lines laid down in the moral 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 57 

teachings of the Lodge ; aided by a deeper knowledge, 
for those who care for it, from brethren who have trav- 
eled the road and who are ready to pass it on, without 
fee or reward. 

The object of such a life is to reach that degree of 
liberty, possible only to him, who by his own conscious, 
intentional, independent, and rational volition, can ex- 
ercise his spiritual powers and faculties, as we do the 
physical ones. 

This leads to that pursuit of happiness, in which all 
the energies of the soul are centered upon the needs of 
our common humanity. 

Because the individual has reached that point in his 
evolution beyond which happiness consists in the trans- 
mission to others of the truths he has learned and the 
benefits he has enjoyed. 



WHY PAPAL ROME IS OPPOSED TO 
MASONRY i 

SINCE the election of a Jew, Hon. Ernesto Nathan, 
who is also a Mason, as the Mayor of Rome ; and 
since the recent discussions dating from the Fair- 
banks and Vatican controversy, which were fanned into 
a roaring flame by the efforts of Merry Del Val to make 
a prominent citizen of the United States bear the scorch- 
ing brand of " obedience to the authority of the Pope " ; 
the correlated subject of the opposition of Rome to 
Masonry has again come prominently to the minds of 
Masons the world over. 

Masonry is a world-wide institution; it teaches inde- 
pendent thinking, and is the only world-wide institution 
that stands in the way of the Politico-Ecclesiastical 
schemes of the Hierarchy at Rome ; which is in the con- 
trol of the Catholic Church, and dominates the good peo- 
ple of that Church who honestly and faithfully follow 
their misguided leaders. 

Masonry knows the truth in regard to the origin of 
the Catholic Church, and it is intent on giving " more 
knowledge " to its own candidates and to all the world 
regarding Man and the institutions of men; and among 
the latter is man-made Papal " infallibility/' 

The time has come to acquaint Masons once again 
with some of the things that have been forgotten. 
There are always Masons in the world who do not for- 
get; they only wait an opportune time to disclose the 
facts of history. 

Albert Pike, in that great Masonic Book, " Morals 
and Dogma," has arranged a few things of vital Ma- 
sonic interest. It has been the privilege, and as well, 

1 Life and Action, March- April, 191 1. 

58 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 59 

the duty of the writer, to bring these facts together in 
a more convenient form, in the hope that they will in- 
spire all who may read them, not alone with a desire 
for " more light," but with the good sense and zeal to 
bring " to light " all their Brethren. 

JESUS TAUGHT A SECRET DOCTRINE. ROME OPPOSES 
SECRECY. 

" ' Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the 
Kingdom of God ; but unto men that are without, all 
these things are done in parables ; that seeing, they may 
see and not perceive; and hearing, they may hear and 
not understand. . . .' And the disciples came and said 
unto him : ' Why speakest Thou the truth in para- 
bles?' He answered and said unto them, ' Because it 
is given unto you to know the mysteries of the Kingdom 
of Heaven, but to them it is not given/ " 

PAUL TEACHES BY ALLEGORY. 

Paul, in the fourth chapter of his Epistle to the Gala- 
tians, speaking of the simplest facts of the Old Testa- 
ment, asserts that they are an allegory. In the third 
chapter of the second letter to the Corinthians, he de- 
clares himself a minister of the New Testament, ap- 
pointed by God : " Not of the letter, but of the spirit, 
for the letter killeth." 

CHURCH FATHERS ADVOCATE SECRECY. 

Origen and St. Gregory held that the Gospels were 
not to be taken in their literal sense; and Athanasius 
admonishes us that " should we understand sacred writ 
according to the letter, we should fall into the most 
enormous blasphemies. ,, 

Eusebius (another Catholic authority) said: "Those 
who preside over the Holy Sepulchers, philosophize over 
them, and expound their literal sense by allegory." 
(Page 266.) 



6o SYMBOLIC TEACHING 



THE GHOSTS OF THE DEAD TEMPLARS HAUNT THE 
VATICAN. 

An hundred years ago, it had become known that the 
Knights Kadosh were the Templars under a veil, and 
therefore the degree was proscribed, and ceasing to be 
worked, became a mere belief and formal ceremony 
under another name. Now, from the tomb in which, 
after his murders he rotted, Clement the Fifth howls 
against the successors of his victims, in the Allocution 
of Pio Nono against the Free-Masons. The ghosts of 
the dead Templars haunt the Vatican and disturb the 
slumbers of the paralyzed Papacy, which, dreading the 
dead, shrieks out its excommunications and impotent 
anathemas against the living. It is a declaration of war, 
and was needed to arouse apathy and inertness to ac- 
tion. (Page 815.) 

THREE DEGREES OF INITIATION IN EARLY CHRISTIANITY. 

In the Hierachiae, attributed to St. Dionysius the 
Areopagite, the first bishop of Athens, the tradition of 
the sacrament is said to have been divided into three 
degrees, or grades, viz. : " purification, initiation, and 
accomplishment or perfection; and it mentions also, as 
part of the ceremony, the bringing to sight." 

The Apostolic Constitutions, attributed to Clemens, 
Bishop of Rome, describe the early Church and say: 
" These regulations must on no account be communi- 
cated to all sorts of persons, because of the mysteries 
contained in them." 

Tertulliari, who died about a. d. 216, says in his Apol- 
ogy : " None are admitted to the religious mysteries 
without an oath in secrecy. We appeal to your Thra- 
cian and Eleusinian mysteries and we are specially bound 
to this caution, because if we prove faithless, we should 
not only provoke Heaven, but draw upon our heads 
the utmost rigor of human displeasure. And should 
strangers betray us? They know nothing but by re- 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 61 

port and hearsay. Far hence, ye Profane! is the pro- 
hibition from all holy mysteries." 

SECRECY OPPOSED BY PAPAL ROME, BUT UPHELD BY EVEN 
THEIR OWN BISHOPS AND ALL HISTORY. 

Synesius, Bishop of Ptolemais, a great Kabalist, but 
of doubtful orthodoxy, wrote : 

" The people will always mock at things easy to be 
understood ; it must needs have impostures." 

u A Spirit," he said, " that loves wisdom and contem- 
plates the Truth close at hand, is forced to disguise it, 
to induce the multitudes to accept it. . . . Fictions are 
necessary to the people, and Truth becomes deadly to 
those who are not strong enough to contemplate it in 
all its brilliancy. If the sacerdotal laws allowed the res- 
ervation of judgments and the allegory of words, I would 
accept the proposed dignity on condition that I might 
be a philosopher at home, and abroad a narrator of 
apologues and parables. ... In fact, what can there be 
in common between the vile multitude and sublime wis- 
dom? The truth must be kept secret, and the masses 
need a teaching proportioned to their imperfect reason." 
(Page 103.) 

Bishop Synesius wrote this confession to Hypatia: 
" The rabble desires nothing better than to be deceived. 
. . . As regards myself, therefore, I will always be a 
philosopher with myself, but I must be a priest with the 
people." And Hypatia was later murdered by that or- 
ganization of priests, who are philosophers so far as 
they themselves are concerned, and " priests " with the 
people. 

SYMBOLS AND WATCHWORDS USED BY EARLY CHRISTIANS. 

Clemens, Bishop of Alexandria, born about A. d. 191, 
says in his Stromata, that he cannot explain the mys- 
teries, because he should thereby, according to the old 
proverb, put a sword into the hands of a child. He fre- 



62 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

quently compares the Discipline of the Secret with the 
heathen Mysteries, as to their internal and recondite wis- 
dom. 

Whenever the early Christians happened to be in com- 
pany with strangers, more properly termed the Profane, 
they never spoke of their sacraments, but indicated to 
one another what they meant, by means of symbols and 
secret watchwords, disguisedly, and as by direct com- 
munication of mind with mind, and by enigmas. 

Origen, born a. d. 134 or 135, answering Celsus, who 
had objected that the Christians had a concealed doc- 
trine, said : " Inasmuch as the essential and important 
doctrines and principles of Christianity are openly 
taught, it is foolish to object that there are other things 
that are recondite; for this is common to Christian dis- 
cipline with that of those philosophers in whose teach- 
ing some things were exoteric and some esoteric; and 
it is enough to say that it was so with some of the disci- 
ples of Pythagoras." 

The formula which the primitive church pronounced 
at the moment of celebrating its mysteries, was this: 
" Depart, ye Profane ! Let the Catechumens, and those 
who have riot been admitted or initiated, go forth ! " 

" ANATHEMA TO ALL WHO ADVOCATE SECRECY ! " SAY THE 

POPES. 

Archelaus, Bishop of Cascara in Mesopotamia, who, 
in the year 278, conducted a controversy with the Mani- 
chasans, said : " These mysteries the church now com- 
municates to him who has passed through the introduc- 
tory degree. They are not explained to the Gentiles at 
all; nor are they taught openly in the hearing of Cate- 
chumens ; but much that is spoken is in disguised terms, 
that the Faithful who possess the knowledge may be 
still more informed, and those who are not acquainted 
with it, may suffer no disadvantage." 

Cyril, Bishop of Jerusalem, was born in the year 315, 
and died in 386. In his Catechesis, he says: "The 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 63 

Lord spake in parables to his hearers in general ; but 
to his disciples he explained in private the parables and 
allegories which he spoke in public. The splendor of 
glory is for those who are early enlightened ; obscurity 
and darkness are the portion of the unbelievers and ig- 
norant. Just so the church discovers its mysteries to 
those who have advanced beyond the class of Catechu- 
mens ; we employ obscure terms with others." 

St. Basil, the Great Bishop of Csesarea, born in the 
year 326, and dying in the year 376, says : " We receive 
the dogmas transmitted to us by writing, and those which 
have descended to us from the Apostles, beneath the 
mystery of oral tradition; for several things have been 
handed to us without writing, lest the vulgar, too fa- 
miliar with our dogmas, should lose a due respect for 
them. This is what the uninitiated are not permitted 
to contemplate ; and how should it ever be proper to 
write and circulate among the people an account of 
them?" 

St. Gregory Nazianzen, Bishop of Constantinople, 
A. d. 379, says : " You have heard as much of the mys- 
tery as we are allowed to speak openly in the ears of 
all; the rest will* be communicated to you in private; 
and that you must retain within yourself. . . . Our mys- 
teries are not to be made known to strangers." 

St. Ambrose, Archbishop of Milan, who was born in 
340, and died in 393, says in his work De Mysteriis : 
11 All the mystery should be kept concealed, guarded by 
faithful silence, lest it should be inconsiderately divulged 
to the ears of the Profane. ... It is not given to all 
to contemplate the depths of our mysteries . . . that 
they may not be seen by those who ought not to behold 
them ; nor received by those who cannot preserve them." 
And in another work : " He sins against God who di- 
vulges to the unworthy the mysteries confided to him. 
The danger is not merely in violating truth, but in telling 
truth, if he allow himself to give hints of them to those 
from whom they ought to be concealed. . . . Beware of 
casting pearls before swine! . . . Every mystery ought 



64 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

to be kept secret ; and as it were to be covered over by- 
silence, lest it should rashly be divulged to the ears of 
the Profane. Take heed that you do not incautiously 
reveal the mysteries." 

INITIATION AND SECRET TEACHING A PART OF EARLY 
CHRISTIANITY. 

St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, who was born in 
347 a. d., and died in 430 a. d., says in one of his dis- 
courses : " Having dismissed the Catechumens, we have 
retained you only to be our hearers; because, besides 
those things which belong to all Christians in common, 
we are not to discourse to you of sublime mysteries, 
which none are qualified to hear, but those who, by the 
Master's favor, are made partakers of them. ... To 
have taught them openly, would have been to betray 
them. ,, And he refers to the Ark of the Covenant, and 
says that it signified a mystery, or secret of God, shad- 
owed over by the cherubim of glory, and honored by 
being veiled. 

St. Chrysostom and St. Augustine speak of initiation 
more than fifty times. St. Ambrose writes to those who 
are initiated; and initiation was not merely baptism, or 
admission into the church ; but it referred to initiation 
into the mysteries. To the baptized and initiated the 
mysteries of religion were unveiled; they were kept se- 
cret from the Catechumens ; who were permitted to hear 
the Scriptures read and the ordinary discourses deliv- 
ered, in which the mysteries, reserved for the Faithful, 
were never treated of. When the services and prayers 
were ended, the Catechumens and Spectators all with- 
drew. 

Chrysostom, Bishop of Constantinople, was born in 
354, and died in 417. He says, " I wish to speak openly, 
but I dare not, on account of those who are not initi- 
ated. I shall therefore avail myself of disguised terms, 
discoursing in a shadowy manner. . . . Where the holy 
mysteries are celebrated, we drive away all uninitiated 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 65 

persons, and then close the doors." He mentions the 
acclamations of the initiated, which he says, " I here pass 
over in silence for it is forbidden to disclose such things 
to the Profane." Palladius, in his life of Chrysostom, 
records, as a great outrage, that, a tumult having been 
excited against him by his enemies, they forced their 
way into the penetralia, where the uninitiated beheld 
what was not proper for them to see ; and Chrysostom 
mentions the same circumstances in his epistle to Pope 
Innocent. 

St. Cyril of Alexandria, who was made Bishop in 412, 
and died in 444, says in his seventh Book against Julian : 
M These mysteries are so profound and so exalted, that 
they can be comprehended by those only who are en- 
lightened. I shall not, therefore, attempt to speak of 
what is so admirable in them, lest by discovering them 
to the uninitiated, I should offend against the injunction 
not to give what is holy to the impure, nor cast pearls 
before such as cannot estimate their worth. ... I 
should say much more, if I were not afraid of being 
heard by those who are uninitiated ; because men are apt 
to deride what they do not understand. And the ig- 
norant, being aware of the weakness of their minds, 
condemn what they ought most to venerate." 

Theodoret, Bishop of Cyropolis in Syria, was born in 
393, and made bishop in 420. In one of his three Di- 
alogues, called the Immutable., he introduces Ortho- 
doxus, speaking thus : " Answer me, if you please, in 
mystical or obscure terms ; for perhaps there are some 
persons present who are not initiated into the mys- 
teries." And in his preface to Ezekiel, tracing up the 
secret discipline to the commencement of the Christian 
era, he says : " These mysteries are so august, that we 
ought to keep them with the greatest caution." 



Minucius Felix, an eminent lawyer of Rome, lived in 
212, and wrote a defense of Christianity, saying: 



66 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

" Many of them (the Christians) know each other by 
tokens and signs (notis.et insignibus) and they form a 
friendship for each other, almost before they become ac- 
quainted/' (Pages 543,. 544, 545, 546 and 547.) 



TRUTH TAUGHT BY PYTHAGORAS, A MASON; OPPOSED BY 
PAPAL ROME. 

Thales and Pythagoras learned in the Sanctuaries of 
Egypt, that the Earth revolved around the Sun; but 
they did not attempt to make this generally known, be- 
cause to do so it would have been necessary to reveal 
one of the great Secrets of the Temple, that double law 
of attraction and radiation; or of sympathy and an- 
tipathy; of fixedness and movement; which is the prin- 
ciple of Creation, and the perpetual cause of life. This 
truth was ridiculed by the Christian Lactantius, as it 
was long after sought to be proven a falsehood by perse- 
cution, by Papal Rome." (Page 843.) 

MAN SUPREME OVER INSTITUTIONS. 

Truths are the springs from which duties flow; and 
it is but a few hundred years since a new Truth began 
to be distinctly seen; that man is supreme over institu- 
tions, and not they over him. Man has natural empire 
over all institutions. They are for him according to 
his development ; not he for them. 

This seems to us a very simple statement, one to which 
all men, everywhere, ought to assent. But once it was 
a great new Truth, not revealed until government had 
been in existence for at least five thousand years. Once 
revealed, it imposed new duties on men. Man owed 
it to himself to be free. He owed it to his country to 
seek to give her freedom, and to maintain her in that 
possession. It made Tyranny and Usurpation the ene- 
mies of the Human Race. It created a general outlawry 
of Despots and Despotism, temporal and spiritual. The 
sphere, of Duty was immensely enlarged. Patriotism 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 67 

had, henceforth a new and wider meaning. Free gov- 
ernment, Free Thought, Free Conscience, Free Speech ! 
All these came to be inalienable rights, which those who 
had parted with them or been robbed of them, or whose 
ancestors had lost them, had the right summarily to re- 
take. Unfortunately as Truths always become per- 
verted into falsehoods, and are falsehoods when misap- 
plied, this Truth became the Gospel of Anarchy, soon 
after it was first preached. (Pages 23 and 24.) 

Civil and religious Freedom must go hand in hand ; 
and Persecution matures them both. A people content 
with the thoughts made for them by the priests of the 
church, will be content with Royalty by Divine Right, 
— the Church and the Throne mutually sustaining each 
other. 

They will smother schism, and reap infidelity and in- 
difference : and while the battle for freedom goes on 
around them, they will only sink the more apathetically 
into servitude and a deep trance, perhaps occasionally 
interrupted by furious bits of frenzy, followed by help- 
less exhaustion. 

Despotism is not difficult in any land that has only 
known one master irom its Childhood ; but there is no 
harder problem than to perfect and perpetuate free gov- 
ernment by the people themselves; for it is not one king 
that is needed, all must be kings. It is easy to set up 
Masaniello, that in a few days he may fall lower than 
before. But free government grows slowly, like the in- 
dividual human faculties ; and like the forest trees, from 
the inner heart outward. Liberty is not only the com- 
mon birth-right, but it is lost as well by non-user as by 
mis-user. It depends far more on the universal effort 
than any other human property. It has no single shrine 
or holy well of pilgrimage for the nation ; for its waters 
should burst out freely from the whole soil. 

The free popular power is one that is only known in 
its strength in the hour of adversity; for all its trials, 
sacrifices and expectations are its own. It is trained to 
think for itself, and also to act for itself. When the 



6g SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

enslaved people prostrate themselves in the dust before 
the hurricane, like the alarmed beasts of the field, the 
free people stand erect before it, in all the strength of 
unity, in self-reliance, in mutual reliance, with effrontery 
against all but the visible hand of God. It is neither 
cast down by calamity nor elated by success. 

This vast power of endurance, of forbearance, of pa- 
tience, and of performance, is only acquired by contin- 
ual exercise of all the functions, like the healthful physi- 
cal human vigor, like the individual moral vigor. 

And the maxim is no less true than old, that eternal 
vigilance is the price of liberty. It is curious to observe 
the universal pretext by which the tyrants of all times 
take away the national liberties. It is stated in the 
statutes of Edward II, that the justice and the sheriff 
should no longer be elected by the people on account 
of the riots and dissensions which had arisen. The same 
reason was given long before for the suppression of pop- 
ular election of the bishops; and there is a witness to 
this untruth in the yet older times, when Rome lost her 
freedom, and her indignant citizens declared that tumul- 
tuous liberty is better than disgraceful tranquillity. 
(Pages 33 and 34.) 

DOMINATION OF THE WILL OF OTHERS, A DOCTRINE OF 
PAPAL ROME. 

The thirst for power is «never satisfied. It is insatiable. 
Neither men nor nations ever have power enough. 
When Rome was the mistress of the world, the Emper- 
ors caused themselves to be worshiped as gods. The 
Church of Rome claimed despotism over the soul, and 
over the whole life from the cradle to the grave. It 
gave and sold absolutions for past and future sins. It 
claimed to be infallible in matters of faith. It deci- 
mated Europe to purge it of heretics. It decimated 
America to convert the Mexicans and Peruvians. It 
gave and took away thrones; and by excommunication 
and interdict closed the gates of Paradise against Na- 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 69 

tions. Spain, haughty with its dominion over the In- 
dies, endeavored to crush out Protestantism in the Neth- 
erlands ; while Philip the Second married the Queen of 
England, and the pair sought to win that kingdom back 
to its allegiance to the Papal throne. Afterwards Spain 
attempted to conquer it with her " invincible " Armada. 
Napoleon set his relatives and captains on thrones, and 
parceled among them half of Europe. The Czar rules 
over an empire more gigantic than Rome. The history 
of all is or will be the same — acquisition, dismember- 
ment, ruin. There is a judgment of God against all 
that is unjust. 

To seek to subjugate the will of others and take the 
soul captive, because it is the exercise of the highest 
power, seems to be the highest object of human ambi- 
tion. It is at the bottom of all proselyting and propa- 
gandism, from that of Mesmer to that of the Church of 
Rome and the French Republic. That was the apos- 
tolate alike of Joshua and of Mahomet. Masonry alone 
preaches Toleration, the right of man to abide by his 
own faith, the right of all States to govern themselves. 
It rebukes alike the monarch who seeks to extend his 
dominions by conquest, the Church that claims the right 
to repress heresy by fire and steel, and the confederation 
of States that insist on maintaining a union by force 
and restoring brotherhood by slaughter and subjugation. 
(Pages 74 and 75.) 

ROME HOWLS FOR MORALITY — IN OTHERS ! ! 

If Masonry needed to be justified for imposing polit- 
ical as well as moral duties on its initiates, it would be 
enough to point to the sad history of the world. It 
would not even need that she should turn back the pages 
of history to the chapters written by Tacitus; that she 
should recite the incredible horrors of despotism under 
Caligula and Domitian, Caracalla and Commodus, Vitel- 
lius and Maximin. She need only point to the centuries 
of calamity through which the gay French nation 



7.o SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

passed; to the long oppression of the Feudal Ages, of 
the selfish Bourbon kings ; to those times when the peas- 
ants were robbed and slaughtered by their own lords and 
princes, like sheep ; when the lord claimed the first-fruits 
of the peasant's marriage-bed; when the captured city 
was given to merciless rape and massacre; when the 
State prisons groaned with innocent victims, and the 
Church blessed the banners of pitiless murderers, and 
sang Te Deums for the crowning mercy of the Eve of 
St. Bartholomew. 

We might turn over the pages, to a later chapter — 
that of the reign of the Fifteenth Louis, when young 
girls, hardly more than children, were kidnaped to serve 
his lusts; when lettres de chachet filled the Bastile with 
persons accused of no crime ; with husbands who were 
in the way of the pleasures of lascivious wives and of 
villlains wearing orders of nobility; when the people 
were ground between the upper and the nether mill- 
stone of taxes, customs and excises; and when the 
Pope's Nuncio and the Cardinal de la Roche-Ayman, 
devoutly kneeling, one on each side of Madame du 
Barry, the king's abandoned prostitute, put the slippers 
on her naked feet, as she rose from the adulterous bed. 
Then, indeed, suffering and toil were the two forms of 
man, and the people were but beasts of burden. (Page 
27.) 

ROME CRUSHES FREE THOUGHT. 

Rome, more intolerant of heresy than of vice and 
crime, came to fear the Templar Order, and fear is al- 
ways cruel. It has always deemed philosophical truth 
the most dangerous of heresies, and has never been at a 
loss for a false accusation, by means of which to crush 
free thought. (Page 820.) 

EARLY CHRISTIANITY LED ASTRAY. 

We may be sure that so soon as Religion and Phi- 
losophy become distinct departments, the mental activity 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 71 

of the age is in advance of its Faith ; and that, though 
habit may sustain the latter for a time, its vitality is 
gone. 

The dunces who led primitive Christianity astray, by 
substituting faith for science, reverie for experience, the 
fantastic for the reality, and the inquisitors, who, for so 
many ages waged against Magism a war of extermina- 
tion, have succeeded in shrouding in darkness the 
ancient discoveries of the human mind ; so that we now 
grope in the dark to find again the key of the phenomena 
of nature. (Page 732.) 



MASONRY 1 

TO a Mason the subject of Masonry should fur- 
nish inspiration, especially in the presence of 
such an assemblage and upon such an occasion. 
All the more so because it is a subject of ample scope 
upon which to expend the powers of oratory in the effort 
to quicken the interest by touching the emotions; or by 
means of study and comparison Masonry will tax the 
scholarship of him who delves deeply enough into the 
rubbish of the debris of ages long since past. 

Between these two methods I must be content to dis- 
charge the duty I have assumed in accepting the invita- 
tion of your committee; as I can claim, only a deep in- 
terest in that which is a common bond among us all; 
oratory is not my forte; and my limitations have long 
since taught me respect for the scholarship to which I 
aspire and cannot hope to attain. 

Let us not attempt to define " Masonry " cate- 
gorically; rather let us come to some understanding of 
it from that which it teaches. 

At this point I can do no better than to quote that 
man among men, and a Great Mason, Albert Pike, who 
says in " Morals and Dogma " : 

" Freemasonry is the subjugation of the Human that 
is in man, by the Divine ; the Conquest of the Appetites 
and Passions by the Moral Sense and the Reason; a 
continual effort, struggle and warfare of the Spiritual 
against the Material and Sensual. That victory, when 
it has been achieved and secured and the conqueror may 
rest upon his shield and wear the well earned laurels, 
is the true Holy Empire." Page 854. Now read on 

1 Oration "Maundy Thursday" Banquet, April, 1912, Min- 
neapolis, Minn. 

72 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 73 

page JJ$ of u Morals and Dogma M and note how closely 
the foregoing approximates to what the Ancient Spirit- 
ual Science designates as the Great Work. 

We thus see that Masonry teaches something, the 
practice of which leads to the acquisition of the greatest 
of all possessions, and that is — self-possession. It con- 
cerns itself with the building of human character, and 
we know character is that which a man knows himself 
to be. 

Character building is not taught alone by Masonry; 
all religions deal with the same problem by inculcating 
moral precepts as a basis for conduct. The important 
matter is, that in Masonry is preserved the ethics -of all 
religions. That is why Masonry is religious but not a 
religion. 

In bringing to you some of the results of my studies, 
I do so, simply as a student ; with no desire to bring you 
to see things as do I ; but simply that matters not usually 
considered by Masonic writers may be touched upon, to 
show that points of agreement, instead of points of dif- 
ference, may teach more than those who took the re- 
sponsibility of shaping the course of thought in the 
formative period of our era, were willing to concede. 
.Thus upon me rests the responsibility of the trend of 
my remarks; because that is after all Masonic, in the 
sense that individual responsibility is at the basis of the 
building of the " temple not made with hands." 

As I stand here it occurs to me that the question 
u What is Masonry?" might precede a consideration of 
the more general topic — " Masonry." Our answers to 
such a question would doubtless be as varied as there 
are minds, here, to consider it. 

Masonry in its present form and as we now confer the 
degrees is a somewhat modern institution, dating back 
to the building corporations of the Middle Ages. But 
even these must have had an antitype from which they 
derived their peculiar character, such for instance as the 
Roman College of artificers which existed 700 b. c. But 
Masonry is more than its forms and ceremonies, its 



74 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

rulesand regulations. It is not so much when Masonry 
had its birth; it is of more importance to discover its 
real origin and purpose through a study of that which 
it teaches. 

Now in 1717 a. d. in England it is said " a great Light 
came to Masonry ," since which time that date is spoken 
of as the revival of our ancient order. 

We are challenged by a Rev. Father Drury in the 
question box of " Home and Country " to show a single 
historical reference that will carry Masonry back any 
farther than 1717 a. d. 

It is of no great importance to reply to criticism from 
our enemies; it is of importance that we know the ani- 
mus of such attacks, and to be able to rest securely in 
the fact that Masonry as an institution is impregnable. 

But we must not forget that liberty belongs only to 
those who can win it; and won it was by our fore- 
fathers and the Masonic founders of this republic. To 
us belongs the privilege, as well as duty, to demonstrate 
by our acts, that liberty is deserved only by those who 
know how to keep it. 

To return to the date 1717 — the revival of Masonry. 
Now in Central Park, New York City, there is an obe- 
lisk, which Commander Gorringe of the United States 
Navy removed from Alexandria, Egypt, to its present 
location. To make a long as well as an interesting story 
short, I will say that under the pedestal, on which the 
obelisk stood in Egypt, were several things of Masonic 
interest; a trowel, cemented to one of the stones; a pure 
white stone, polished and of true cubical form; also a 
stone marked by tool marks showing it was intentionally 
made rough; another stone cut into the form of a car- 
penter's trying square; still another one showing an 
ancient Egyptian cubit gauge and some hieroglyphics on 
a trestle board spelling part of the word " temple.'' 

The officers of the Grand Lodge of Egypt were pres- 
ent at the request of Commander Gorringe — who sent 
for them as soon as the trowel had been discovered. It 
is not necessary to state that the stones found, corre- 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 75 

spond to what we call the rough and perfect ashlers, 
the square and the gauge. Other points of interest 
might be mentioned, but I hasten to state that the bronze 
crabs, which held the obelisk to the pedestal were in- 
scribed, as follows : 

M Anno VIII Augusti Caesaris Barbarus praef 
Aegypti posvit Architectante Pontic" 

Which is to say " In the Eighth year of Augustus 
Caesar Barbarus prefect of Egypt placed. Pontius ar- 
chitect." This was in the year 22 b. c. 

Recalling again the fact that 171 7 is spoken of as a 
revival of Masonry, let us note the historical fact that 
Iamblichus, a student to whom Pythagoras taught the 
ancient mysteries, fearing that those who rule by con- 
trolling their fellows by the powers of ignorance, super- 
stition, and fear, would make way with the opponents 
of despotism — put into writing some of the ancient 
teaching, ancient even in the time of Pythagoras who 
lived in the 5th century b. c. 

To read the writings of Iamblichus would be like 
reading to you part of the E. A. lecture ; it touches upon 
temperance, fortitude, prudence and justice; inculcates 
morality as essentially necessary to the seeker after 
truth, because to know the truth comes only to him who 
is true. 

Pythagoras " traveled in foreign countries, was ini- 
tiated into various orders of the priesthood, and raised 
to the sublime degree of M. M." Egypt, Chaldea, and 
India, were visited by him, and to this day he is remem- 
bered in India by the name — Yavanacharya or the 
Ionian teacher. 

He taught the heliocentric system, the metaphysical 
trinity ; God as the Universal Mind ; and he was profi- 
cient in astronomy, music and geometry. He knew the 
" mysteries " because he was an initiate. 

But u what are the mysteries " — they are not what 
some writers would have us believe them to be. The 
word " mystery " is derived from the Greek " muo " to 
close the mouth. Every symbol of the ancient mysteries 



76 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

had a hidden meaning; its highest application referred 
to the spiritual nature of man, and the powers of the 
Soul whereby the earnest student could prove for him- 
self the reality of the spiritual world, and thus convert 
a longing hope and a fervent faith into real knowledge. 

The fundamental ideas of Masonry are concerned 
with: 

ist. Deity — that principle of principles, symbolically 
referred to as the Grand Architect of the Universe. 

2d. The conscious self-identity of the Soul of man 
independent of the physical body; and this is the 20th 
century way of stating the problem of the ages " if a 
man die, shall he live again." 

3d. The interdependence of humanity upon its indi- 
vidual units, whose real happiness is conserved in ren- 
dering service to humanity, and it is this principle that 
unites us into a sacred band of brothers the world over. 

In these fundamental ideas, common to all religions 
of the world, we discover the principle of universality. 
Thus we see the reason why Masonry has preserved it- 
self as a unit through a succession of ages, and it has 
taught morality as the fundamental ethical principle in 
all religions, without which principle, all other teachings 
lose their effectiveness. 

The watchful student soon discovers these two facts : 

1. Things cannot be understood where first he meets 
them. 

2. In the words of Max Mtiller : " He who knows 
only one religion, knows none.' , 

Pushing back our inquiries ; studying by the compara- 
tive method and holding to the idea — to first look for 
points of agreement — we find the fundamental princi- 
ples of Masonry at the fountain head of Brahmanism, 
Buddhism, Parseeism, and the Religion of the Ancient 
Egyptians, the mysteries of Greece, the teachings of 
Pythagoras, Plato, Plotinus and the teachings held by 
Origen, the only one of the Fathers of the Church who 
stood by his obligation as an Initiate, and who saw 
great possibilities to humanity, if the real truth were 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 77 

only handed on. But — what happened? He was de- 
graded for obscure reasons to the rank of a layman by 
the Priests of the early church, since which time the rule 
has been enforced with an iron hand — " Don't do as I 
do — but do as I say." Ignorance, in countries under 
the domination of those responsible for Origen's down- 
fall ranks in educational standards, from 55 per cent, 
to 89 per cent, of illiteracy. 

Strange to say, the world ever since the beginning 
of the Christian era, has allowed its thinkers to be im- 
molated upon the rack, derided by carping critics, and 
the higher evolution of humanity immeasurably re- 
tarded. 

But little of the real truth has filtered down through 
the ages. 

Let us see if we can find out why. 

To begin with, the term " operative Mason " in its 
highest aspect, also alludes to him who by " living the 
life " awakens the spiritual faculties of his intelligence 
and thus converts those " intuitive convictions which we 
denominate Faith " into a personal experience, which 
forms the basis of knowledge by which the hope of 
immortality broadens into an ever widening conscious- 
ness of its reality. 

This is why speculative Masonry is so far interwoven 
with religion (or "the application of the facts of 
science and the conclusions of philosophy to individual 
life and conduct") as to lay us under obligation to 
rationally apply our knowledge of the moral principles 
of Freemasonry to individual life and conduct. Be- 
cause such living opens the higher faculties, and the 
contemplative soon see why every recognized duty must 
be performed cheerfully — and how necessary it is to 
exercise that form of self-control which shall install 
the will as the Master of the Lodge — within. These 
individuals always find it difficult to pass on the " good 
news " — or to spread the Gospel because their message 
emancipates the individual from bondage and from 
servitude. Their message favors independent thinking; 



78 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

their teaching indicates that " man's value to himself as 
an individual is the only sure and true measure of his 
value as an active, living factor in the social organism 
of which he is a part." This is Masonry. 

In all ages men have aggregated themselves into large 
organizations to force education along lines which teach, 
that, " man has but one value ; a value to the great or- 
ganization of which he is a part." By iron rule and 
despotic power, the individuals belonging to such an 
aggregate body are forcibly molded to religiously accept 
the Moral sentence that " his greatest value to himself 
is measured by the degree to which his individual Will, 
intelligence and conscience are subject to the domination 
and control of that aggregate body of which he is a 
part." This is not Masonry. Not even Religion. It 
is Despotism. 

Am I too sanguine in the hope that my theme has been 
clearly enough developed up to this point, to suggest, 
that our ancient brethren wrought in operative, as well' 
as speculative Masonry? 

If not, then it is proper to call to mind the fact that 
every ancient nation had its mysteries ; its secret teach- 
ings, in which the candidate was taught the idea of One 
God; the Brotherhood of Man; and the Immortality of 
the Soul. 

This is true of human evolution, from the cradle of 
the present race of mankind in central Asia on down to 
our own times. 

Every religion from time immemorial had its secret 
teaching for those who " were duly and truly pre- 
pared " to receive it, and each had its popular story for 
the less advanced. 

In the early days of Christianity, the candidate was 
initiated through three degrees before he came into full 
fellowship with his brethren. Is it not easy, then, to 
see why so little has come down to us concerning the 
real teachings of the ancient religions and why so much 
uncertainty attaches to the " Divine Instructors who have 
appeared on earth to teach truth and morality to men." 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 79 

Are these points worth consideration in connection 
with the symbolism of the " three steps " ? 

The ritual gives many valuable hints as to what is 
necessary to " building the temple not made with hands," 
and further indicates that by practicing the moral prin- 
ciples taught in Masonry, we shall erect that temple 
" eternal — in the heavens." And the five steps aid us 
in acquiring our bearings so that by using the " working 
tools " of will and reason we may keep our character 
building along right lines. Masonry thus puts the re- 
sponsibility upon the builder, because after the design 
has been furnished us, and after the Great Architect has 
presented us with " consciousness as the receiving fac- 
ulty of the Soul " ; and further endowed us with " the 
ability to make a free, independent, and self-conscious 
choice, by means of the Will " — we must build true or 
false — right or wrong. We must grow or atrophy. 
.In the vernacular, it is " up to us." " To be a man " is 
to recognize this duality in manifested nature and to 
realize that the " individual intelligence " is the 20th 
century name for the Soul. 

An ancient symbol is the pentagram or 5-pointed 
star, and our ancient sages referred to it as a symbol of 
" an instrument, complete as the world and as accurate 
as mathematics " because it symbolized the human, or 
the individual intelligence. 

The one point directed upward referred to the as- 
cendency of our better or divine nature ; the two points 
directed upward referred to the destructive process 
working in the nature of man. 

Now in the Vedas, that " Great Light of the Hindus " 
the mind of man is referred to as the 5 principle, and 
the word " man " is derived from the Sanscrit root 
"mu" of the verb "to think." Thus it is that the 
pentagram is a symbol because it is a concrete repre- 
sentation of an abstract idea. 

Still keeping to the symbol of the number five, let us 
recall the five orders of architecture, and the facts that 
" to the Greeks and not to the Romans, we are indebted 



8o SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

for that which is great, judicious and distinct in archi- 
tecture," and then refresh our memory that it was in 
the Augustan age, in the year 36 b. a, that, Marcus 
Vitruvius Pollio was permitted to give to posterity the 
rules of construction of ancient temples, particularly 
those of Greece; his revelations can only be studied 
esoterically as Vitruvius was an initiate in the Ancient 
Mysteries, and his rules of proportion are those taught 
anciently by initiation. He too drank at the same foun- 
tain of wisdom, as did our friends and brothers before 
him — Plato and Pythagoras. 

The ancient canon of proportion is part of the secret 
knowledge of the sages of old — a knowledge long since 
monumented in the Great Pyramid and in the temples 
of Egypt, Assyria, and India. Modern skill can but 
imitate until it shall gain access to that wisdom locked 
up in glyph and in symbol, the key to which lies hidden 
in that miracle of miracles — man. 

At the foundation of all religions is a secret teaching, 
based upon real knowledge of nature and of man. By 
its symbols that teaching may be traced into the very 
night of time. The divine instructors of early man did 
not invent arbitrary signs, they followed nature when- 
ever possible. 

The theme I have tried to develop, from the ritual 
itself, as appropriate to Maundy Thursday, may be 
summed up in the statement, that, the true Mason in 
ancient as well as in modern times is one who constantly 
strives to come to independent conclusions by rational 
thought, putting every truth to use, and striving to 
live the life in accord with that which his own reason 
and his own conscience point out as embodying his own 
moral standard of right. 

This is the burden of the teachings of all religions 
and all philosophies of old that would have man unfold 
the Divinity within, by the aid of knowledge in place of 
ignorance ; self-reliance in place of fear ; and individual 
responsibility in place of superstition. 

And this is — Masonry. 



A PORTION OF THE FIELD OF MASONIC 
STUDY 1 

MASONRY has a history, a literature and a phi- 
losophy. The study of Masonry may be ap- 
proached through any of the foregoing 
divisions. Their relative value depends largely on one's 
accumulated knowledge, together with the use he wishes 
to make of the " further knowledge " he will acquire as 
a student of Masonry. 

Masonry is an institution, modern in the sense that 
it was revived in 1717 a. d. Ancient in the sense that 
in all ages, among all civilized people, there have been 
associations of individuals, holding sacredly the idea of : 

1. God (The Great Architect of the Universe). 

2. The Brotherhood of Man (Service to Humanity). 

3. The Immortality of the Soul (the conscious self- 
identity of the Individual Intelligence (the Soul) inde- 
pendent of the physical body). 

These three may be called a Masonic Trinity. 

In rare instances the knowledge of immortality 
through a definite personal experience has been obtained 
before death. It has been the priceless jewel obtained 
by the living of a life in accord with the highest ideals 
of justice and morality of the individual attempting to 
seek real mastership. 

In all ages a few have lived the life, gained the ex- 
perience, and made the demonstration in complete veri- 
fication of what our Brother Jesus, a Master, said : 
and what has been put on record by one of the patron 
Saints of Masonry, St. John, chapter xiv, 12, viz. ? Jesus 
encouraged his disciples to persist in their studies and 
good works by telling them, that they could equal all 

1 The Masonic Bibliophile, April to June, 1912. 

81 



82 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

that he did, and do greater works even than he (Jesus) 
was doing. He also told them, more than once, that, 
by living the life and thus knowing the doctrine, they 
too would become Sons of God. 

When we recall to our minds that the early Christians 
were a secret order, we cease to wonder at the many 
creeds and dogmas clustering about the simple life of 
Jesus and the very few things he himself left in the 
spoken word. Look up the New Testament in " Every- 
man's Library " and note the few words of Jesus, all 
printed in short lines. 

The truth is not past finding out, but the individual 
who really wants to know must do the searching, for 
reasons which will unfold to him, as he travels the 
rough and rugged road to the intellectual heights of the 
Himalayas. 

Masonry has preserved for " future generations," the 
ethics of every religion, because these principles are at 
the foundation of either a personal demonstration of, 
or a real Faith in, the eternal question — " if a man die, 
shall he live again." Morality (ethics or conduct) is 
the corner stone for that " spiritual building not made 
with hands." Without morality, the teachings of any 
religion lose all their effectiveness. It is true, that 
priests can keep their communicants in ignorance, and 
rule them by fear, by preying upon their superstitions; 
but this is not religion, it is despotism. It has made 
rivers of blood flow in the past; done in the name of 
religion ; but done for love of power, for worldly wealth 
at the expense of the poor and oppressed. It can and 
will be repeated, if we who differ with despotic princi- 
ples, allow it to be repeated. 

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER. 

Masonry has at all times fostered the spread of knowl- 
edge, and it has done well. Security for our free gov- 
ernment depends upon the education of our children; 
and this depends upon a continuance of the free public 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 83 

schools. Under no circumstances should we permit any 
part of public money, no matter how raised, to be di- 
verted to the support of any sectarian school or for 
any purpose of such sectarian school. Educational 
work is not alone the duty of teachers in our schools 
and colleges. It is your duty, and mine, as well, to 
" foster those institutions that have to do with the gen- 
eral diffusion of knowledge." These are the wise words 
of Washington, man and Mason, and he knew whereof 
he spoke. The root of the matter is in our public 
schools; criticism and attacks are hurled against them 
and the Church of Rome leads the van of carping crit- 
ics. 

EDUCATION. 

Education is a process. The word means to " draw 
out " or " bring into view." We cannot " draw out " 
what is not there. So education is not pouring into 
weary heads a lot of information, much of which will 
be lost or forgotten. It is rather the development of 
the individual's faculties, capacities and powers. Books, 
lessons, etc., are the means to an end. We never reach 
the end. After school and college days are over, we 
are likely to become " busy " and the educational or de- 
velopment process goes much more slowly. 

There comes a time when the longing " to know " 
reappears. This time it filters through our being, after 
perhaps, years of drifting, doubt, denial and indifference. 
At this point, I can say, that I know of no other line of 
research that " proves up " like the study of Masonry. 
One cannot read as he runs, for real Masonry requires 
personal effort on the part of all who want to know. 
Information gleaned from various sources, demands 
thought ; points require further study ; and after a time 
we reach the plane of understanding and the effort is 
worth all it costs. 



84 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 



AN EXPERIENCE. 

As a student of medicine, psychology afforded the 
writer much interesting reading, it touched the mysteries 
of his own being, and gave a restful respite from the, to 
him, more arduous studies of anatomy and pathology. 
He ceased to wonder why some evidence of the Soul 
was not forthcoming in the wonderful revelations of 
the dissecting room. Psychology pointed toward the 
living man as the place for Soul study. The last place 
in the world to look for a living Soul, is in a dead 
body. 

An important matter in Psychology is the study of 
the religious experience of individuals and nations. 
This formed the stepping stone to much reading of com- 
parative religion, and then to a study of the ancient civ- 
ilizations in which the ancient religions flourished. All 
of this was but the prelude, unrecognized at the time, 
then came the writer's initiation into Masonry; and 
later the careful study of the ritual as an officer in the 
Blue Lodge, and an interested worker in some of the 
higher degrees. 

The writer can look back to a time when he was re- 
peatedly surprised to find in symbols, traces of our an- 
cient order in the far distant past. Now the surprise 
would be, not to find these traces in all ages and among 
all nations, from the dawn of civilization to the present 
hour. 

SECRET TEACHING BACK OF ALL RELIGION. 

While making no claim to expert scholarship, it has 
been a labor of great personal satisfaction to trace the 
" secret teaching " back of all religions, in every nation 
from time immemorial down to the present time. 

In symbolism the " old " teaching is ever alive, and 
it is the inspiration of the " new " teaching of to-day. 
The field of study is very wide; it will bear deep culti- 
vation, and yield a harvest of golden grain of thought, 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 85 

which will aggregate more than enough for all nations, 
but harvesters are needed. 

Personal effort is the sine qua non of success in this 
work. The books mentioned should start one on the 
road. If the student really desires to know, but little 
else is needed than to drop him the hint. 

AS IT IS TO-DAY. 

By way of illustration, the student of Masonry, might 
with profit, survey the field of Masonic activity to-day. 

The candidate is early told : " Follow your guide," 
and he does so with interest increasing at every step, as 
the ritual unfolds to his consciousness. He is impressed 
that Masonry means something, and hopes to know 
u what it means " as he " progresses." 

The candidate is made an E. A. and sees seven or 
eight brethren aside from the officers in attendance. At 
his examination, he may see a few more. The F. C. 
degree calls out the usual corporal's guard. Then be- 
cause the class is large, or because one is called away, 
the third degree is given on two different evenings, at 
the first of which the attendance is small, because no 
supper, no speeches, no added attraction is scheduled. 
But when the second evening comes around, and special 
attractions are advertised, the lodge room is well filled, 
if not jammed. The candidates make comparison and 
draw conclusions. They hear funny stories, most of 
which they cannot tell to " any lady " as Pat Casey says. 
Now and then they hear that Washington and his com- 
patriots were Masons, and that the order is very old and 
very honorable; and that the symbols of Masonry have 
a deep significance, all of which is interesting; then it 
bewilders, and finally these candidates join the ranks 
of the " lost interest " regiment. 

The Grand Lodges provide a ritual, after its lessons 
and teachings have been imparted, the candidate is 
treated to the " fourth degree " and is jokingly told that 
his money paid for it, and then listens to what different 



86 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

speakers are "reminded of" — and fails to note any 
apology on the part of anyone, for the brand of " re- 
minders." 

Now this is not the rule, but it is all too frequently 
the case, because nothing has been planned out of a dif- 
ferent nature. 



AS IT MAY BE — PROVIDED — ! 

Suppose for instance, that every Lodge had at least 
one member sufficiently interested to attend the Ma- 
sonic Study School ten times in a year, and that he was 
given an opportunity to suggest some Masonic topic for 
discussion ; indicate some short Masonic article to be 
read; or propose the name of some well informed 
Brother to make a short, but studious talk early in the 
work of the " 4th degree " and not at the time, when 
everyone is rushing for the last car. Suppose all of 
this, now how long would it be until at least one special 
meeting in a year were devoted to Masonic Instruction 
other than degree work. How long would Masons in 
Hamilton County be satisfied with one Masonic Study 
School, wherein to pursue the deeper study of the won- 
derful teachings that have come down to us from time 
immemorial. 

As Brother students searching for the Truth, desirous 
of gaining knowledge that will best aid in the evolution 
of the individuals and aid the uplift of the great orphan 
— humanity — we have the basis for approaching any 
and all questions in the right spirit. Not for the pur- 
pose of indoctrinating anyone, not for the purpose of 
inculcating time worn dogmas, nor for the purpose of 
engrafting any creed upon anyone, but for the sole pur- 
pose of searching our own Soul for those experiences 
which are common to all students, who are really de- 
sirous of possessing Truth for its own sake. 

" Many are called but few are chosen " — the choos- 
ing is an individual matter. One becomes a Mason of 
his "own free will and accord." One must choose to 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 87 

study Masonry, it cannot be forced upon him, as it is 
worse than useless to offer any inducement to start on 
the rough and rugged road that leads to real knowledge. 

THE SPIRITUAL ORIGIN OF RELIGIONS. 

Numerous topics come forward as we write — all 
having had more or less consideration at our various 
meetings. But we pause to pass them in review in the 
endeavor to select just one more that will be of interest 
to those who may listen to, or read what is here written. 
One topic, that of the origin of religions, ought to be of 
sufficient general interest to hold the attention of all, as 
it has been so misunderstood as to have hindered the 
higher evolution of the race. Whereas we all know the 
intent of real religion is just the opposite. 

We start in life with the ideas gleaned from our en- 
vironment and early teachings. In most of us, the time 
comes when doubts assail and questions torment us. 
We pursue the matter to the best of our ability, or per- 
haps give up the quest for the knowledge we crave. 
Conflicting opinions bewilder us, and with the masses 
of old we cry — cui bono — what's the good of it any 
way? 

Religions by some writers are supposed to have been 
elaborated from simple, and in some instances, foolish 
beginnings. From the worship of the Sun, Moon and 
Stars, the changes have been rung so that now we have 
Christianity, with Jesus figuring as the personified Sun- 
God, born at the W inter-Solstice, resurrected at the 
Vernal Equinox ; and Mary the Virgin, is a Zodiacal 
constellation, to this day called the Queen of Heaven in 
the Catholic prayer book. Or, according to other 
writers, all religions had their origin in the mystery of 
reproduction, the creation of a new being by conjunction 
of the sexes. So that the cross is the symbol of the 
male and female organs. This is phallic worship ; it 
may be that the covert statement often made by Catholic 
priests : " Christians do not even know the real mean- 



88 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

ing of the cross " refers to this aspect of the origin of 
religion. The priestly vestments are, many of them, 
purely phallic in design, according to Furlong, Inman, 
Jennings and others. 

Books are written upon this side of the question. 
They require no deep study to apprehend their meaning, 
and they seem to. indicate the natural evolution of the 
subject; so without any investigation, people make the 
world old error of thinking that things can be under- 
stood where they are met with first. 

RELIGIONS DO NOT DEVELOP THEY DEGENERATE. 

Many centuries of the world's history show that reli- 
gions do not develop from savage customs upward 
through animal worship to totemism, thence to visions 
and dreams as foundation material for ethical and moral 
teachings. 

Religions do not develop; they degenerate. Their 
source is in the mountains of spiritual attainment. The 
stream comes down through disciples and interpreters, 
and steadily reaches a lower and lower plane. A 
Buddha or a Paul comes to check the changes wrought 
by time in the teachings of the Master. Sadly they 
realize, that, to the few it is given to know the mysteries 
of the kingdom of heaven; and the many have not seen 
the necessity of making the personal effort to develop 
the capacity to understand, so they elect to remain 
" without." 

THE GREAT TEACHERS. 

A survey of the great teachers who have appeared on 
earth to teach truth and morality to men is the same in 
all instances. 

First comes the founder. Full of knowledge gained 
through years of personal effort, and so he is rich in 
wisdom. Self-conquest has given him power as a nat- 
ural consequence. Cheerfulness and compassion ani- 
mate his every act. Unselfishness added to these virtues 



.MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 89 

wins the esteem of the people. He is a man, among 
men; but his greater knowledge sets him apart, and his 
divinity is revealed as he passes through trial after trial 
in his effort to give to the world the message wrought 
out of his own being; grafting it upon the current reli- 
gion, or current thought as he finds it ; endeavoring to 
whip the flame of spiritual life of his people into a 
brighter glow ; sorrowfully he sees the multitudes com- 
prehendeth not; and joyfully, he teaches the few disciples 
who choose to follow him, the first steps of the Truth 
which shall make them free. Without dogmatism, he 
lays down the propositions, which they are to solve by 
a study of their own experience with their inner lives. 
The criterion of Truth begins to develop in their own 
souls; and they, like the Master, come to know by per- 
sonal experience, the meaning of Faith, Hope and Char- 
ity ; they realize the function of Pain and Sorrow ; they 
understand the potency of living the life according to 
one's best judgment of right and justice. 

WHAT HAPPENS? 

The Master leads the disciple to live the life. Not to 
view life as he does, not to accept the things he accepts, 
but simply to grow along natural lines toward spiritual 
development. The disciples with the Master, constitute 
an association purely voluntary. They become a focal 
point for the transmission of spiritual truth to humanity. 
The disciples realize that the Master gave no doctrines 
in dogmas or creeds to the World. He simply gave 
himself, without the hope of a fee or a reward, and he 
did it of his own free will and accord. 

The effort of Master and disciples is to uplift the race, 
by inculcating principles which if followed, will build 
character, increase intelligence, foster self-reliance ; in- 
culcate independent thinking; abolish fear; annihilate 
superstition ; and spread love and good will everywhere. 

This giving of himself to those who will accept the 
gift, is the central truth in the life and religion of 



90 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

Krishna, the Hindu; Osiris the Egyptian; Gautama the 
Buddha; Sosiosh the Mazdean; Zoroaster the Persian; 
and Jesus the Christos. 

The central truth is handed down to other genera- 
tions. In time, the real teaching is forgotten or lost, 
because in the first place it belonged to the few to whom 
it was given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of 
heaven. Instead of becoming One with the Master, by 
living the life; a later generation abides by the Dogma 
" he gave his life that we may be saved." The whole 
tenor of the beautiful teaching is thus perverted. The 
mystery remains shrouded in darkness, instead of being 
solved, as solvdd it may be, by more light being shed 
upon it by the growth of consciousness as the receiving 
faculty of the Soul. 

OSIRIS — THE VIRGIN BORN SAVIOUR OF THE ANCIENT 
EGYPTIANS. 

Such is the sacrificial life. The Master comes in di- 
vine power and love. He gives not so much a religion, 
as himself; a sacrifice as the symbol of the fact, that 
his teaching is the theory; his life, the demonstration, 
thereof. In Egypt the giving of the life of the Master, 
is symbolized by the cutting up of his body into frag- 
ments, and scattered abroad. The fragments were 
gathered together and made one again in a new and 
glorious resurrection after the third day of burial. 
Osiris departed from the visible world, but did not cease 
to be, so he rules as King over the destiny of the Souls 
of the departed. He is the Virgin born saviour of the 
Ancient Egyptians. 

KRISHNA — THE VIRGIN BORN SAVIOUR OF THE ANCIENT 

HINDUS. 

Krishna's life-history is full of hidden symbolism and 
tradition. He came as a great Master of spiritual 
things over 5,000 years ago to the people of India, 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 91 

Gradually his spiritual knowledge and Mastership re- 
vealed itself to those few who were duly and truly pre- 
pared in their hearts to understand him. 

Krishna, the Virgin born Saviour gave, not so much 
a teaching, as himself, raising the life and consciousness 
of his disciples to such a plane of vibration, that a 
knowledge of spiritual facts, was as natural to them, as 
the knowledge acquired of material things. 



BUDDHA THE VIRGIN BORN SAVIOUR OF THE BUDDHISTS. 

Down through the centuries, we come to a point that 
is over 2,500 years from to-day, when Buddha the com- 
passionate comes into view in the tragedy of the Soul. 
He began with humanity as he found it. He picked up 
the thread of true spiritual teaching. Lived the life, 
came into possession of spiritual knowledge by personal 
effort, and is revered as the Virgin born Saviour of the 
Buddhists. 

Zoroaster, Orpheus, Sosiosh, and other initiates fur- 
nish abundant material for the elucidation of the topic 
we are all too briefly considering — materials which en- 
able one to fully appreciate and correctly interpret the 
message of the last great initiate known to the world at 
large — the message of the Master — Jesus. 



JESUS — THE FIRST GREAT INITIATE FOR THE WESTERN 

WORLD. 

From the teachings of the great Master Initiates, we 
may learn that real religion is a simple matter. 

It is first a question of the life of the Master, together 
with the effort of the disciples to enter into that life, 
so that, by the same kind of personal effort, the disciple 
may enlarge the content of his consciousness by inde- 
pendent efforts of the will. The reality of spiritual 
things is demonstrated, and so life in the Eternal is es- 
tablished, which enables the one to say — " I and my 
Father are One." 



92 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

The spiritual history of religions is^ thus the history of 
the Masters. The basic fact in that history, in what- 
ever age, is the effort of the disciples to live the life, 
and to know the doctrine through personal experience. 
Churches then became associations of disciples living 
the truth taught by the Master. This was the fact in 
the days of Osiris, Krishna, Rama, Buddha, Zoroaster, 
Sosiosh, Orpheus, Moses, Pythagoras, Jesus, and it is 
possible now. Years and cycles roll on, but the Silent 
Watcher, the Witness, the Master appears when the stu- 
dent is ready, now, no less than in ancient days. 



IS THE "GREAT WORK" A MASONIC BOOK? 

THIS question came up during a discussion 
among the students of the Masonic Study 
School (Cincinnati). It was asked by one of 
the students who had not read the book. Another stu- 
dent who had read the book carefully, remarked, " The 
author must be a Mason, otherwise he would not have 
written the chapter called ' The Lineal Key ' along such 
strictly Masonic lines." And a third one observed, that, 
" the chapter entitled * The Mark of a Master ' indi- 
cated the high Masonic character of the author." 

The proper procedure in the solution of the question 
or problem involved in the query would be, first, for 
one to read the book. It would be more correct to 
suggest that one study the book, because this would 
simply imply fixing the attention upon what was read. 
But in conformity to the method of The Masonic Study 
School, we endeavored to get down to the basic principles 
in this, as in all questions raised during a discussion. 
Because of this question illustrating the method of 
study, the summary of the discussion may interest other 
students. The query is as important as it is interest- 
ing, because some Masons of intellectual ability have 
criticized the book as being non-Masonic, which suggests 
a sub-query: 

WHAT IS MASONRY? 

One of the questions propounded to applicants for 
admission to the Masonic Study School is " What is 
Masonry ? " No two Masons would answer this ques- 
tion in the same way. Suppose the reader thinks it 
over for a short time, and then writes his answer in as 
few words as possible. After which do some reading 

93 



94 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

with attention (i. e., study) and at the end of thirty 
days write out another answer. And so at intervals, 
as he gains a larger body of information, let him write 
out other answers, and he will demonstrate the point 
just raised, and also, he will have evolved a method by 
which to measure his own progress in the acquirement 
of knowledge. 

What is Masonry? That is a great question. One 
can study it along historical lines and find so many gaps 
that he will begin to think that Masonry has not much of 
a history and therefore no antiquity. Study Masonry by 
what it teaches, and follow Masonic teachings as far 
back into history as you are capable of doing, and the 
whole aspect changes from darkness to light. Apply 
these principles in daily life, and with Paul, we too be- 
come Master-Builders. 

There is not space at our disposal to elaborate and to 
illustrate the many phases which present themselves to 
our mind in the study of the question "What is Ma- 
sonry?" It might be of interest to quote just one an- 
swer to the question from one of the applicants to the 
Masonic Study School. 

" What is Masonry ? " To me it is an institution — 
modern in the sense that it was revived in 171 7 a. d., 
ancient in the sense that, in all ages and among all civ- 
ilized people, there have been associations of individuals 
holding sacredly the ideas of One God, Service to Hu- 
manity (i. e., Brotherhood of Man) and the conscious 
self -identity of the Individual Intelligence (i. e., the 
Soul) independent of the physical body; and this knowl- 
edge has in rare instances (Jesus, Buddha, Krishna, 
Sosiosh, Zoroaster, Hermes, Pythagoras, Plato and 
others) been obtained before death. Masonry has pre- 
served the ethical principles of every religion, because 
these principles are at the foundation of a personal 
demonstration of the question — " if a man die, shall 
he live again ? " 

Suppose one should read with attention (i. e., study) 
" The Great Work " and then write out an answer to 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 95 

the question, " What is Masonry? " to compare with one 
written some time before. Suppose that answer gave 
a lofty conception of Masonry, and invested some of the 
verbiage of the ritual with a meaning never before ap- 
parent to the student, suppose that meaning made the 
teachings of Masonry throb with demonstrable purpose 
and stimulate the student to endeavor to the best of his 
ability " to live the life, to know the doctrine " ; would 
not such an one accord to the writer of such a book, 
capable of producing such an impression, the greatest 
possible appreciation of his Masonic insight, and his 
high Masonic purpose to aid Masonry to come into its 
own royal inheritance? 

" The Great Work " is such a book ; its author is such 
a Mason, and those who know and understand him, love 
him as Brother Man and Brother Mason. 

But what is the " Great Work " ; here again is room 
for much study, but let Albert Pike answer for us : 
" The Great Work is, above all things, the creation of 
man by himself; that is to say, the full and entire con- 
quest which he effects of his faculties and his future. 
It is, above all, the perfect emancipation of his will, 
which assures him the universal Empire of Azoth (i. e., 
the creative principle of Nature) and the domain of 
magnetism (see page 442 et seq 'The Great Work' by 
T. K.) that is complete power over the universal Mag- 
ical agent" (page 77$ " Morals and Dogma" by Albert 
Pike). 

Let us now turn to page 854 of " Morals and Dogma " 
where we read " Freemasonry is the subjugation of the 
Human that is in Man, by the Divine; the conquest of 
the Appetites and Passions by the Moral Sense and the 
Reason ; a continual effort, struggle and warfare of the 
Spiritual against the Material and Sensual. That vic- 
tory ; when it has been achieved and secured, and the 
conqueror may rest upon his shield and wear the well- 
earned laurels ; is the true Holy Empire." 

Thus it seems that there is a deeper meaning to Ma- 
sonry than the mere ritualistic work. But this deeper 



96 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

meaning is Masonry just as much as ritualistic work is 
Masonry. One is the outer meaning, the other is the 
inner meaning. A little light may be shed upon this 
inner meaning of Masonry by quoting a few paragraphs 
from " The Great Work " that we may see how its 
Masonic utterances check up with those of that great 
Mason — Albert Pike. 

" Freemasonry, in its modern form, represents but 
one of the many efforts of the Great Parent School to 
transmit its knowledge to the world in definite, scien- 
tific and crystallized form. Had that effort been en- 
tirely successful the Masonic Fraternity never would 
have come to be known as a mere * speculative ' Order. 
That is to say, our modern order of Speculative Ma- 
sonry is only a ' substitute ' for the association that was 
originally planned and intended by the Great School of 
Masters. Had the original design been fully consum- 
mated an exoteric Order of ' Operative ' Masons would 
have been the result. Its members would have become 
1 Operative ' Masons in the ancient and exalted meaning 
of that term. That is to say, they would have become 
master operators of the faculties, capacities and powers 
of their own Souls. In that event, Freemasonry would 
have become a great public school of Spiritual Wisdom, 
in direct touch and cooperation with the Parent School, 
from which it received its inspiration and authority " 
("The Great Work," page 47). 

Again, quoting page 45 : " From the foregoing it 
will be observed that the work of the initiate in the Great 
School is that of a * Builder ' ; from the beginning to the 
end of his labors he is building the ' Temple of Human 
Character/ This he does upon the solid rock of Endur- 
ing Truth, and ' when the Temple is complete ' it stands 
as a column of unfading ' Light ' to illuminate the path- 
way of life to all who travel that way." 

Now it so happens that some enemies of Masonry 
label this inner meaning, " Occultism or Mysticism, or 
Theosophy" or some other name, and so cause con- 
fusion in the minds of those good Brothers who have 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 97 

not the time or inclination to analyze these things to get 
at the facts. 

Masonry is not any one nor all of these fanciful 
things, and the discriminating reader will not so con- 
fuse it. 



PERSONAL EFFORT 

THE writer has been for some time reading and 
studying some old books full of wise suggestive 
thoughts, quite as applicable to these days as 
to any of the days beyond recall. The message of these 
old books is simply to point the way to the new-old 
Teaching which once pervaded the whole earth. 

True, it requires a personal effort for one to get at 
the rich stores of wisdom, because as the author of the 
old book which lies open before me says : " Neither 
Truth nor Light will come to any man who does not 
want them with all his heart and soul; who does not 
seek for them eagerly, and who does not toil early and 
late for their attainment." 

Many are called but few are chosen is an old axiom, 
and there is some doubt as to how many will care even 
to read these few inadequate paragraphs, inspired by a 
long acquaintance with the author referred to and 
others like him. An acquaintance only with their 
writings and work, because they have long since passed 
the great divide and by their work have enabled others 
to discover that the Dark Valley of the Shadow of 
Death, is but a valley and dark only to those who have 
not as yet removed the hood-wink by refining their lives 
here and now as a preliminary to the opening of the 
spiritual channels to consciousness. 

In a certain place reference is made to the ' c Messen- 
gers from God " a synonym for " Messiah, a divinely- 
sent Spirit who teaches Truth and Morality to men." 
The Saviour, because he announces tidings of salvation, 
and points out the way that leads to Light. A man in 
all respects while he sojourns on earth ; not exempt from 
human error, except in his teachings " which are based 
upon continuous effort and include therefore a personal 

98 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 99 

experience on all points of basic importance here alone 
comes in the infallible part of real religion." Jesus was 
the Ninth Messenger. 

The testimony of the Ninth Messenger is, that it is 
only an evil and adulterous generation which seeketh 
after a sign (Matt, xii, 39) and, says our author: " We 
may be perfectly sure that it is in accordance with all 
we know of God, that He abstains from any semblance 
of leading men to the right way by any other than an 
appeal to their reason ; an appeal that succeeds when 
reason listens. As every man has it in his power, if he 
really tries, to find out true religion, and separate it 
from the false, so also he has power to enter the Super- 
natural Sphere, and to converse with Angelic Essences. 
But he will not try; and therefore he remains for- 
ever ignorant and forever outside. And it is hardly 
fair that he should deny altogether the Paradise that 
blooms within the Gates if he has never tried to ap- 
proach those Gates. But this is what he generally does. 
A man who clings to sensuals cannot associate with 
spirituals. A man who relies only on his common 
sense; on his money getting power, on his mere energy 
after carousals, will never reach the higher, the spirit 
sense — the soul illumination. I know plenty of schol- 
ars and men of worldly wisdom who think the Super- 
natural is all moonshine ; but I never knew that any one 
of them had striven to attain admission into the Circles 
of Light, which are not the less real because they are 
unseen of such. Everyone knows that a man cannot 
get money or food, or learning, without labor; everyone 
thinks he can get Truth (which is the most precious of 
all things) without any exertion at all of his own, but 
simply by listening to some hired priest whose words he 
accepts as words of wisdom. But if we want Truth, 
or Light, or any Beautiful and Spiritual thing, we must 
labor for them quite as hard as we labor for gold, or 
aught else we desire to have/' 

The author quoted signs himself by means of a point 
within a circle. 



THE DEW OF HERMON 

THE dew of Hermon (the Holy Spirit) descended 
upon the mountains of Zion — for there Iao 
commanded the blessing — life for evermore. — 
Psalm cxxxiii. 

This dew was also Hermes, the Sixth Messenger or 
Teacher of Truth and Morality to men. 

The ancient significance of " dew " is that of teach- 
ing or instruction. This idea is represented in the 
hieroglyphs of the Egyptians by wavy lines in the form 
of a double arch. In Hebrew the word (ire) signifies 
drops of water and likewise to teach. The idea in a 
symbolic sense is that of instruction which prepares 
man for the gaining of wisdom, and rain which prepares 
the earth for bearing crops. 

This same symbolism runs back through the ages and 
shows again the link connecting all the religions with a 
Secret Teaching given to each Messenger and he in 
turn transmits it to the people of his generation in a 
manner best suited for their intellectual development. 

The foregoing might do for a thesis, the elaboration 
of which would disclose many strange symbols, all hav- 
ing a bearing upon Masonry. But he who runs would 
not care to give careful attention to the development of 
the idea; and he who stops and thinks would better 
make the personal effort himself, and thus gain all the 
good in order to pass it on to someone else by throwing 
out the suggestion. 



ioo 



JACOB'S LADDER 

£6 A ND he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up 
l\ on the earth, and the top of it reached to 
A. jL heaven; and behold the angels (Messengers) 
of God ascending and descending on it." — Gene- 
sis xxviii. 4 

In Greece, in Egypt, in Assyria, and in India this 
" ladder " symbol can be traced. The idea is more 
clearly understood by going back beyond the point where 
all symbolism began to be degraded because the key was 
lost. 

In the dim and distant past the ladder idea grew out 
of the symbolism of the Sacred Tree, or the Tree of 
Life, the fruit of which is emancipation or eternal life, 
beyond which the end cannot be seen — because it is 
in eternity. In India sacred trees are, or have been 
rather, grown in an enclosure of an oblong square; this 
too a part of the Temple wall, as at Tiruvalier. 

In Assyria the Tree of Life is shown with branches in 
the form of a ladder. In Egypt it is studied under 
Horus of the Ladder; the Ladder of Shu (light); the 
Ladder of Heaven; and the Ladder Divine. 



101 



MODERN PROGRESS OPPOSED BY THE 
POPE 1 

THE Pope's syllabus on " Modernism " has called 
forth much criticism from those who are not of 
the Catholic faith. It has also brought out a de- 
fense from the Catholic press that is calculated to make 
other acts of the politico-ecclesiastical hierarchy in 
Rome equally as unpopular. 

To show that the Popes and the Catholic Church have 
not been opposed to science and progress, the Cincinnati 
Catholic Telegraph of September 26, 1907, suggests a 
study of science and education, and then mentions the 
names of some fifty Catholic scientists who (rightfully) 
hold a firm place in the world of progress. 

The list tells of their achievements, but the very prog- 
ress some of these scientists helped to make was not 
because of their Catholicism, but in spite of it. How 
the rulers of the Catholic Church treated some of its 
famous men is not mentioned by the Catholic Telegraph, 
but let us follow its editor's suggestion and " study 
science and education." 

Nicholas Copernicus, a Catholic priest, father of the 
modern system of astronomy, heads the list, and Galileo, 
father of experimental science, comes second. 

In studying some of the books on the " Index " which 
Catholics are debarred from reading by the mandates 
of the Popes, an independent student of modern prog- 
ress will find that Copernicus, because of his doubts as 
to how the Catholic Church would receive them, hesi- 
tated to give to the world his researches. His book was 
published but a short time before his death. 

1 The New Age, December, 1907. 

102 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 103 

Galileo, astronomer and scientist, to whom Catholi- 
cism now points with pride, in her defense of the Pope's 
criticism of " Modernism " was summoned to Rome and 
his doctrine condemned by the Pope. Later he was 
forced by the Inquisition to abjure the Copernican 
theory. 

Columbus, a Jew, but claimed by Catholics to be a 
Catholic, was shamefully treated by the Spanish " De- 
partment of Indian Affairs " which department was un- 
der the direction of Fonesca, Archbishop of Rosana, 
and Patriarch of the Indes; he was also the confident 
adviser of Isabella of Spain. 

Fonesca was one of the commission appointed to ex- 
amine into the schemes of Columbus and he reported 
them to be visionary and impracticable. Throughout 
life he was the implacable priestly foe of Columbus, 
and as a member of the " Council of the Indes," he 
found ample means of gratifying his hostility. Unfor- 
tunately, to him was committed the care of the missions 
for the conversion of the Indians, and he made a point 
of selecting the most fanatical and bigoted men. He 
was also continually engaged in disputes with Las Casas, 
who had the best interests of the Indians at heart, and 
with Cortez, both Catholics. 

Among the Catholic botanists mentioned as contrib- 
uting (as indeed he did) to modern progress is 
Caesalpinus, whose work, " Quaestiones Peripateticus," 
published at Florence, in 1569, acquired great celebrity. 
It was attacked in various ways, and efforts were made 
to bring the author before the tribunal of the Inquisi- 
tion. 

Another Catholic named in the list of those to whom 
the Catholic Church now proudly refers in her defense 
of the Pope's attack on modern progress is Descartes, 
who was, indeed, a great thinker, and who is entitled 
to rank as the founder of modern philosophy. In pro- 
mulgating his proofs of the existence of Deity, Des- 
cartes was in evident alarm lest the Catholic Church 
should see something objectionable in them. He had 



104 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

also written an astronomical treatise, but hearing of the 
fate of Galileo, he refrained from publishing it. 
(George Henry Lewes.) 

Descartes, in his resolve to examine the premise of 
every conclusion, and to believe nothing but upon clear- 
est evidence of reason, is squarely on the " Modernism " 
side, and comes under the ban of the Pope to-day. 

The list of names of Catholic scientists, philosophers, 
etc., is put forth to establish the fact that the perse- 
cuting Popes and the rulers of the Catholic Church have 
never been opposed to true scientific progress. 

History shows the contrary, namely, opposition to 
anything and everything, except as approved and pro- 
mulgated by the dogmatic authority of those- who rule 
the Catholic Hierarchy at Rome, and yet the Catholic 
Church boasts that it never changes, is now, and always 
has been in favor of modern progress. 

Editorial Note. — The celebrated English Jesuit, 
Father Tyrrell, used the following vigorous language 
about the Pope's Syllabus and Encyclical on " Modern- 
ism ": 

" The modernist movement had quickened a thousand 
dim dreams of reunion into enthusiastic hopes. When, 
lo! Pius X comes forward with a stone in one hand 
and a scorpion in the other. Thousands of the most 
deeply religious souls, scandalized by the crude identi- 
fication of scholasticism with Catholicism will be kept 
from the sacraments. 

" Nor can the wholesale alienation of the educated 
classes, with its implied contempt of the clerical mind, 
tell otherwise than disastrously on the less educated 
multitudes already rapidly falling away from the church, 
who, in these matters, invariably follow from afar the 
fashion of their leaders." 

A pamphlet was issued under the name of " The 
Programme of the Modernists," as an answer to the En- 
cyclical. The authors of the pamphlet and "all who 
have in any way assisted in the compilation of the book " 
were excommunicated by the Pope. The authors of the 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 105 

book are unknown, but it is suspected that Father Romolo 
Murri, the brilliant young leader of the Italian Modern- 
ists, and Father Boniuti, are responsible for it. Father 
Boniuti is the priest who was removed from his pro- 
fessorship in the Roman Seminary for his Modernist 
views. 

In the New York Independent, of October 10, 1907, 
appeared an article under the signature, " Spectator 
Catholicus," which is very interesting in view of the 
Pope's subsequent " Encyclical " and " Syllabus." The 
author, a Roman Catholic priest, in good standing, is 
an advocate of " Liberal Catholicism." Speaking of the 
spirit which has culminated in the Pope's decrees against 
Modernism, " Spectator Catholicus " says : 

" The Civilta Cattolica, a Vatican organ conducted by 
the Jesuits, devoted the greater part of its space in an 
issue of last winter to raising a cry of alarm against 
the tide of liberalism which is rising in every civilized 
country, and threatening to sweep away even to the 
foundations many of the traditional forms of Catholic 
thought. The Etudes, a French Jesuit review, follows 
suit, maintaining that the modern views of Biblical crit- 
icism and dogmatic interpretation advocated by many 
Catholics are un-Catholic, dangerous, and destructive. 
A host of writers were charging Loisy, Lagrange, Hum- 
melauer, Tyrrell, Leroy, and Blondel with the most seri- 
ous dogmatic transactions." 

Such language coming from a priest of the Roman 
Catholic Church is very striking. He also says : 

u Xo, we are not animated by the wish to destroy, but 
by the zeal to promote pure spiritual Catholicity. We 
see the Church declining almost everywhere. The coun- 
tries which she still holds are not greatly to her credit ; 
the nations which she has lost lead the civilization of 
the world. We see Rome distrusted even by the fair- 
est men outside the Church, and its yoke borne with dis- 
content by thousands within the Church itself." 

And the end is not yet! 



HOW TO BE A HIGH UP MASON * 

THE Mason who wishes to " improve in Masonic 
knowledge," should occupy some of his " leisure 
moments " in pursuing, systematically, the valu- 
able literature now at his command. In this jurisdic- 
tion, the Hamilton County Masonic Library Association 
can furnish the student with any one or all of the works 
herein recommended. 



The Power of our country is vested in our American 
institutions, viz., the State, the Church and the School'. 
To know what this Power is and what it can accomplish, 
read: 

Part II in " Facing the Twentieth Century," by James 
M. King. 

Pages 165 to 259 in " The Genius of Freemasonry 
and the Twentieth Century Crusade," by Bro. Dr. J. D. 
Buck. 

Pages 384 to 390 in " The Great Psychological 
Crime," by Bro. T. K. 

This will prepare the Masonic reader to intelligently 
apprehend the Peril of our country. Again take up : 

" Facing the Twentieth Century," read Part IV. • 

et The History of the Jesuits," by Ex-secretary of the 
United States Navy, R. W. Thompson, read Chapters 
XX, XXI, XXIII, XXIV and XXVI. 

"The un-American Parochial School," by Father 
Crowley, also the small pamphlets bound with it on " The 
Godless Public School " and " Esoteric Catholicism." 

1 The Tyler Keystone, October 5, 1909. 

106 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 107 

To know how to protect our American Institutions, 
road the last chapter: 

" The Crusade," in Bro. Buck's " The Genius of Free- 
masonry," and the pages 518 to 579 in " Facing the 
Twentieth Century." 

"duty to ourselves." 

" Masons should be general lovers of the Arts and 
Sciences," and should inform the mind on all topics that 
will enlarge the mental horizon, " To the end that the 
reputation, honor and welfare of the institution may be 
firmly established and the world at large convinced of 
its good effects." 

In "The Book of the Master," by W. Marsham 
Adams, will be found some clews to the mysterious reli- 
gion of Ancient Egypt. As Masons, do not neglect to 
read the preface. Then in Bro. J. D. Buck's " Mystic 
Masonry," read pages 201 to 265 to gain an idea of sym- 
bolism and the meaning of the lodge. The introduc- 
tion and the appendices of Bro. J. Ralston Skinner's 
book, " The Source of Measures," will open the way 
to a more comprehensive reading of our " Great 
Light." 

Extend your reading of Bro. Skinner's discoveries as 
to the Masonic character of the Great Pyramid to a 
perusal of Louis P. McCarty's " The Great Pyramid of 
Jeezeh," because the author has made a life study of his 
subject and is more nearly in line with the data of An- 
cient Masonry than any other writer with the possible 
exception of Bro. J. Ralston Skinner, Bro. J. D. Buck 
and Col. D. \V. Lockwood, U. S. A. 

There are many books which might be recommended 
but these few will give anyone a good start and enable 
one to find out the line of Masonic study most inter- 
esting to him. Then the student will be able to hunt out 
topics in other books, and by the aid of the index to 
journal articles now being made by Bro. Powers of Hyde 
Park Lodge, one will be able to find much valuable ma- 



io8 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

terial long buried in the Masonic journals. Finally re- 
member the three steps of a real student: 

1. Study to know. 

2. Resolve the matter over and over until you are sure 
you understand. 

3. Then and then only, judge, according to reason, 
conscience and your own standard of right and justice. 



OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND THE CHURCH OF 
ROME x 

THE following paragraph is a brief quotation from 
several pages of matter, editorial and special con- 
tributions, which the Catholic journals will quite 
generally spread throughout the length and breadth of 
the land, again and again, in the never-ending campaign 
of the Hierarchy of Italian Cardinals and an Italian 
Pope, to " make America Catholic." 

" With this issue (August, 1910) Men and Women 
(a Catholic magazine) presents to its readers the first 
of a series of articles dealing with the question of Edu- 
cation — than which there could be none of greater im- 
portance not only because of the varying and various 
school laws of the forty-eight States of the Union, but 
because of the fact that from the public schools of the 
several States, religion is rigorously banished with the 
education imparted, looking always to the mental, but 
never to the moral, nor the religious development of 
the millions of pupils. There is also the question of 
taxing millions of citizens for the support of schools 
from which religion is banished, and compelling them to 
support schools in which the moral and the religious 
development of the pupil goes hand in hand with the 
imparting of knowledge and the rightful development 
of the mind. One class of citizenship is therefore taxed 
for a purpose from any benefits of which good con- 
science forbids participation. ... Is it fair to subject 
to double taxation a class of citizenship, which yields to 
none in devotion to American institutions and which 
never will yield in the upholding of the principles which 
Cecilius Calvert planted in the soil of Maryland — the 

1 Tyler Keystone, October 20, 1910. 

109 



no SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

principle of civil and religious liberty? That class of 
citizenship has submitted, and will continue to submit, 
for conscience' sake to the double taxation imposed upon 
it until the coming of the day when the State school sys- 
tem will be organized upon a basis at once fair, just, 
educational and progressive in the true meaning of the 
word. . . ." 

"A class of Citizenship (Catholic) which yields to 
none in devotion to American Institutions," shows its 
devotion by repeated attacks on our public schools, the 
principal bulwark of our hard battle for liberty and equal 
opportunity for all. The founders of this republic trav- 
eled far from their ancestral homes to establish our gov- 
ernment, wherein Church and State should remain for- 
ever separate; because no other cure for the evils 
resulting from a union of Church and State in Europe 
could be found. 



OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS CHARGED WITH BEING GODLESS, 

WHY? 

It was formerly the general custom to open our pub- 
lic schools with the reading of some Scriptural selection, 
and the saying of the Lord's Prayer. This course was 
followed to teach the children about God and man's ac- 
countability to Him. It probably was pursued with the 
idea of supplementing the religious instruction of the 
home. Pope Leo XIII once wrote: " The minds of 
children are most influenced by the training they re- 
ceive at home." Consult Pope Leo XIII's great En- 
cyclical Letters, third edition; pages 182 and 206. 

The Italian Hierarchy in Rome saw this point of at- 
tack on our public schools in these nominal religious 
exercises. So the country was startled by priest-led 
Catholic protests, against teaching religion in our public 
schools. (On the first Index-Expurgatorius, published by 
Pope Paul IV in 1559, he placed all Bibles in Modern 
languages. The late Pope Leo XIII spoke of vernacular 
Bibles as " poisonous pastures.") 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE in 

Some non-Catholic, press and public, foolishly rallied 
to the support of the protesting politico-ecclesiastic Cath- 
olics and out of the agitation came the virtual abandon- 
ment of religious exercises in the public schools. 

Catholicism having thus eliminated the Bible from the 
public schools, a lull was judiciously ordered. In time 
these same Catholic Ecclesiastics, in return, charged the 
public schools with being " godless " and unfit for the 
education of the Catholic youth. The next movement 
was to erect Parochial schools, and the depleted pocket- 
books of the Catholic people are mute witnesses to the 
success of this last named ecclesiastical activity. But 
what of the supposed increased morality to the Cath- 
olic youth? Thirty-seven per cent, of all convicts in 
our penitentiaries to-day, October, 1910, is justification 
for the charge that the Parochial schools are also god- 
less. But the Italian Hierarchy, which governs the 
Church of Rome and its branches in the United States, 
hopes that the constant reiteration of the charge " god- 
lessness " against our American public schools, will lead 
the Protestant religious press to echo the baseless charge, 
and so influence many pious non-Catholic parents to be- 
lieve the public schools are vicious, and win votes, to 
add to Catholic votes, on the question of giving part of 
the school-tax to private schools on the plea that these 
private (Parochial schools) relieve the State of the ex- 
pense of educating the children that attend them. 

The argument is made still more subtle, by the Church 
of Rome, urging that Methodist, Jewish, or any other 
sect, would be entitled to its own pro-rata share of the 
school fund. Once the wedge enters, then good-by to 
our system of education, which is, has been, and should 
ever be, the corner-stone of our liberties and civilization. 

THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOLS ARE 

It is time we should institute a never-ending campaign 
against any and all such seditious efforts. In reply to 
the charge of " godless public schools," let us not for- 



ii2 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

get the convict population of our penitentiaries and the 
large proportion of Catholics therein. (Fifty-six per 
cent, of all convicts are of foreign birth and indicate 
that the open door of immigration should be closed.) 

In return, the time has come to make a counter-charge 
against the teachings in the Parochial schools. We can, 
and should, put the Church of Rome on the defensive 
through her avowed purpose and ex-cathedra utter- 
ances. 

The American people should inquire what is taught 
in the Parochial schools that make them more fit for 
education of children than our public schools. The Pa- 
rochial schools must teach that which Rome approves. 
It dare not go contrary to the fundamental principles 
of the Hierarchy in Rome which governs the Catholic 
Church in America; and to which Hierarchy in Rome 
the Archbishops in America must give accounts of their 
stewardship. 

WHAT THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOLS TEACH. 

Leo XIII in his Encyclical letter November 1st, 1885, 
pronounces against Equality, Freedom of Thought, Sov- 
ereignty of the People, Freedom of Conscience, of 
Speech, of the Press and Separation of Church and State. 
He urges effort to make the Catholic Church Supreme 
in State. The Parochial school must follow his lead. 
(See Pope Leo XIIFs Great Encyclical Letters, 3d edi- 
tion, page 107 et seq.) 

Leo XIII in his Encyclical entitled " On the Chief 
Duties of Christians as Citizens," dated January 10th, 
1890, said in effect — When the Church and State con- 
flict, obedience to the laws of State becomes a crime. 
(See 3d edition "The Great Encyclical Letters of Pope 
Leo XIII," page 185.) He calls the separation of the 
Church and State an absurdity, worthy of " toleration " 
in the United States ; and " that kind of civilization which 
conflicts with the doctrines and laws of the Holy (Cath- 
olic) Church is nothing but a worthless imitation and 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 113 

a meaningless name." (See Pope Leo XIIFs Great En- 
cyclical Letters; 3d edition, page 12.) The Parochial 
schools cannot inculcate a love of our country in the 
minds of children who go to the Parochial schools. Not 
to do so and to teach them that these United States are 
a " worthless imitation and a meaningless name " is 
treason under the cloak of religion. 

The Parochial schools teach Vaticanisms, and Vati- 
canisms are un-American, because they are directed 
against our free institutions and our liberties. 

If John Ireland were the American Pope, surrounded 
by American Cardinals, he would soon teach the Italian 
Pope and the Italian Cardinals a few much-needed les- 
sons, to rouse them from their sixteenth-century ideas. 
It would still be the duty of the free-born American to 
protect every American principle of equality, freedom 
of thought, the will of the people as the guide to larger 
liberty and opportunity, freedom of conscience of speech 
and of press, and keep forever separate the Church and 
the State, in which effort all enlightened Catholics would 
join. 



"IT IS NOT BECAUSE OF RELIGION" 1 

THE United States in its Declaration of Inde- 
pendence and in its Constitution is committed to 
the separation of State and Church. 

The Italian Roman Catholic Hierarchy, in control of 
the Roman Catholic Church in this country, is con- 
stantly urging a union of Church and State, always of 
course meaning the Roman Catholic Church. 

When discussion is made upon this fundamental ques- 
tion the cry is heard : " It is deplored that any body of 
intelligent men should uphold such a principle as out- 
lined above, which ostracizes American citizens because 
of their religious belief, and has for its purpose to keep 
them out of office, political and military, and to discrim- 
inate against them generally." 

It is not a question of religion. It is a question of 
using religion as a cloak to carry on treasonable work 
against the fundamental principles of the United States 
Government. 

The Puritans came to this country to escape the abuse 
of kingly and priestly power in European governments. 
They had had experience with the abuses and injustices, 
where the governing bodies had joined hands with the 
Church. Our annual Thanksgiving celebration is in 
memory of the fact that a handful of brave men and 
women left their homes to establish residence in a coun- 
try where eventually a Government of the people, for 
the people and by the people should be a fact. 

The Puritans were unquestionably religious in their 
belief, life and action. They understood the question 
of morality and its relation to religion in the light of 

i Tyler Keystone, May, 1912. 

114 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 115 

strenuous endeavors to live the life that they might be 
worthy of the blessings of the Master. 

The founders of this Republic knew well the dangers 
of the Union of Church and State, and a long line of 
Presidents of the United States have left a warning for 
us to guard well the encroachments of those who would 
undermine our fundamental principles in an endeavor 
to re-unite the Church to the State. 

Recently in St. Louis, May 24th, 1912, the Guardians 
of Liberty were unable to secure a meeting place. First 
because a Protestant Church refused to permit the meet- 
ing for fear that the remarks would be Anti-Catholic. 
Next a theater had been rented, but as the fire-escapes 
on the rear of the theater overhung the line separating 
the theater building from a Catholic Church, the manager 
of the theater was served with a notice from the priest 
of the Church saying that if the meetings were permit- 
ted in the theater, that the fire-escapes would have to 
be taken down, in which case the manager of the theater 
would not be permitted to use his building for other gath- 
erings. 

General Nelson A. Miles, who is at the head of the 
Guardians of Liberty, said that the Organization is non- 
political, non-sectarian and non-racial and opposes no re- 
ligion. 

The Secretary of the American Federation of Cath- 
olic Societies says (newspaper clipping) : 

" In response to this assertion of General Miles, I wish to 
state that one of the principles of the constitution of this new 
organization declares : ' We maintain it is inconsistent with and 
destructive of free government to appoint or elect to political or 
military office any person who openly or secretly concedes su- 
perior authority to any foreign political or ecclesiastical power 
whatsoever.' 

" From this principle, it is clear the Guardians of Liberty de- 
sire to proscribe their Catholic fellow-citizens, and are reviving 
bigotry of the Know-Nothing and A. P. A. type. 

" Roman Catholics owe allegiance in their spiritual affairs to 
his holiness the pope, but only in spiritual affairs. In matters 
concerning their civil welfare or that of this country every 



n6 , SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

Roman Catholic is as free as any other American citizen to act 
and vote as his wisdom and conscience dictate. 

"It is to be deplored that any body of intelligent men should 
uphold such a principle as outlined above, which ostracizes 
American citizens because of their religious belief, and has for 
its purpose to keep them out of office, political and military, and 
to discriminate against them generally." 

It will be sufficient in reference to the statements of 
the Secretary of the Catholic Societies to say that in 
" The Great Encyclical Letters of Pope Leo XIII " — 
3d edition, there is ample evidence to show that when 
the laws of the Church conflict with the laws of a State, 
obedience to the State law becomes a crime, punishable 
by excommunication. Couple to this the following from 
the Cincinnati Enquirer of Tuesday, May 28, 1912, and 
you can see that the Catholic position is inconsistent; 
and it is not because of religion that opposition to the 
Italian Roman Catholic Hierarchy in control of the 
Roman Catholic Church in this country will forever be 
maintained. Here is the quotation from the Cincinnati 
Enquirer: 

" It was brought out at the business session of the German 
Roman Catholic State Alliance of Ohio at St. Francis's Hall 
yesterday, when Chairman Joseph Pater, of the Legislative Com- 
mittee, submitted his report, that the charter makers at Colum- 
bus, so far, have done nothing for, nor against Catholic interests. 
The report was timely in one respect at least, for just before it 
was made a letter from Archbishop Moeller had been read in 
which Catholics were advised to scan carefully every clause in 
the proposed new constitution and to vote only for those that 
do not conflict with the best interests of their church." 



WHY GUARDIANS OF LIBERTY? 1 

OXE beautiful Sunday morning, in London in Re- 
gents' Park, we overheard enough scraps of con- 
versation to give us the information that this was 
one of the Sundays when public speaking was permit- 
ted in Hyde Park. 

Curiosity led us to follow the crowd and finally to 
reach Hyde Park. There in that immense area were 
crowds of people, gathered about different speakers. 
Some of the speakers stood up in wagons, some on boxes, 
some on a little rise in the ground. 

What was it all about? 

At first we thought England's doom was sealed. For 
we happened first to listen to a talk by someone who 
wanted the common people to know, that they " were 
mere chattels in the control of those who would or would 
not employ them as they pleased; because none of them 
could work and obtain wages except as they were given 
a place in a factory properly equipped with machinery. 
Not owning the machines and not having the skill to 
do hand work, it was easy for the bosses to keep them 
from doing much to change the conditions, through fear 
of starvation, while trying to change industrial condi- 
tions." The speaker railed against the Crown and de- 
nounced a bill then in Parliament to increase the Crown 
allowance for the expenses of the King and Queen. 

The next one we listened to, was exhorting the people 
on the subject of "religion" — telling them "that the 
world was coming to an end, on the reappearance of 
Halley's Comet." He knew more about Hell fire and 
Paradise than the Almighty Creator. We did not wait 

1 Tyler Keystone, May, 1912. 

117 



n8 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

for the reappearance of Halley's Comet — we all now 
know it came, and went, and that this steady old Mother 
Earth continues to roll on through space just as she has 
done for thousands of years. 

We then passed on to hear another speaker who could 
not find words bitter enough with which to denounce the 
Pope. Here as elsewhere, people listened, applauded, 
laughed or jeered, accordingly as they agreed or dis- 
agreed with the speakers. 

Sometimes the speaker would give way, or make his 
speech short, and someone else would take his place. All 
manner of talks were thus being allowed by the authori- 
ties. After thinking it over, it seemed to me that the 
Hyde Park meetings are England's safety valve. 

If any in this audience have come here this evening 
expecting to hear a tirade against any person or per- 
sons, or against any institution they will be disappointed. 
Personally, we do not believe in such methods, and only 
mention them to denounce them. 

If you have come to listen to a dispassionate and dig- 
nified presentation of some few topics, which, at pres- 
ent, are engaging the attention of thousands of people 
in this country, and throughout the civilized world, then 
we hope to interest you. 

As to convincing you, that is a personal matter; we 
would have you make your own investigation, and come 
to your own independent conclusion after a deliberate 
study of both sides of the question. 

We are to let others tell you as nearly as we can the 
exact facts in regard to important matters affecting in- 
dividual liberty and individual happiness. 

We are to ask you to listen to the words of Pope Leo 
XIII as published in " The Great Encyclical Letters of 
Leo XIII," third edition. Press of Benziger Bros., New 
York, Cincinnati and Chicago. 

These few extracts will be contrasted with the funda- 
mental principles of our government as we find them in 
the Constitution, and the Declaration of Independence, 
of the United States. 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 119 

These extracts will show that misunderstandings arise 
because of the different points of view of the Roman 
Catholic Hierarchy as compared with the founders of 
this Republic. 

Let us here suggest, that until you have thought these 
matters over, do not jump to conclusions and do not 
exaggerate. 

On page 12, in " Pope Leo's Great Encyclical Let- 
ters " in the letter entitled : " On the Evils Affecting 
Modern Society," in which His Holiness is contrasting 
the present age as hostile to religion with past ages when 
the Roman Catholic Church was revered as a Mother 
to all nations, he says, " Therefore, if the many bless- 
ings we have mentioned, due to the agency and saving 
help of the Church are the true and worthy outcome of 
civilization, the Church of Christ, far from being alien 
to or neglectful of progress, has a just claim to all men's 
praises as its nurse, its mistress, and its mother. 

u Furthermore, that kind of civilization which con- 
flicts with the doctrines and laws of holy Church is noth- 
ing but a worthless imitation and a meaningless name." 

The Constitution of the United States, the basis of 
our Civilization, does not mention any Church; it 
says: 

" We the people of the United States do ordain and 
establish this our constitution." 

Which statement of the People was ratified by the 
people through delegates in Convention. 

The quotation from Pope Leo XIII does not har- 
monize with the Constitution of the United States, which 
declares : 

" Congress shall make no law respecting an establish- 
ment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." 

To refer to this " civilization as a worthless imitation 
and a meaningless name " is not conducive to that wel- 
fare of each one of us on which rests the happiness and 
security of all. 

The United States government acquired this country 
first by conquest with England; second by purchase of 



120 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

certain lands from France; third by conquest and pur- 
chase from Mexico ; fourth by purchase and by conquest 
with the Indians; fifth by conquest with Spain. 

The Constitution of the United States is the expressed 
will of the people, ratified by every Congress and every 
President since the days of the immortal Washington, 
the Father of our Country. For all have had to take 
the oath to support and defend the Constitution of the 
United States on assuming the duties of their office. 

On page no, in Pope Leo XIII's letters on "The 
Christian Constitution of States," we read : 

". . . Since the chief duty of all men is to cling to 
religion in both its teaching and practice — not such re- 
ligion as they may have a preference for, but the reli- 
gion which God enjoins . . ." 

His Holiness certainly means his own, and no other 
religion. 

The Constitution of the United States prohibits the 
passing of any law or laws " respecting the establishment 
of religion." To make such a law in respect to any 
denomination would mean a conflict of all other denom- 
inations which would retard the higher evolution of the 
human race, and cause endless dissension. 

On page 194, His Holiness, Pope Leo XIII, in the 
letter " On the Chief Duties of Christians as Citizens," 
says: 

". . . this likewise must be reckoned amongst the 
chief duties of Christians, that they allow themselves to 
be ruled and directed by the authority and leadership 
of bishops, and above all, by the Apostolic See." 

Again on page 196, we quote: "No one can, how- 
ever, without risk to faith, foster any doubt, as to the 
Church alone having been invested with such power of 
governing souls as to exclude altogether the Civil Au- 
thority" 

The Declaration of Independence states the opposite 
of the quotations just made from the writings of His 
Holiness. We now read from the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence of the United States : 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 121 

u Governments are instituted among men deriving 
their just powers from the consent of the governed/' 

This means that the people, all of the people, are su- 
preme in this country. If the people do not choose to 
act independently, and to live their own lives in ac- 
cordance with their own standard of equity, justice, and 
right, guided by their own reason, and their own con- 
science, then it shows they are not ready to assume their 
personal responsibility which is the fundamental law of 
the higher evolution of the soul of man. 

On page 184, of the Letters of His Holiness, Leo 
XIII, he quotes from Matthew vi, 24: ". . . ' No man 
can serve two masters ' — for to please one amounts to 
condemning the other. As to which should be pre- 
ferred no one ought to balance for a moment — ' we 
ought to obey God rather than men'" (Acts v, 29). 

And on the next page (185) : " But if the laws of the 
State are manifestly at variance with divine law — then 
truly, to resist becomes a positive duty; to obey, a 
crime." 

If any institution, no matter what; or any body of 
men, no matter who, set aside the duly enacted Federal 
or State laws of this country, without the consent of 
the people, anyone can predict the inevitable result. 
You see our Catholic brethren have a divided allegiance 
to adjust within their own Souls — and we have an ever 
present duty in remembering and acting upon the words 
of Abraham Lincoln, viz. : " This government, with its 
institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit this coun- 
try." 

Another matter, to keep ever in mind, is public educa- 
tion. Criticism of our public school system is almost 
continuous in these times. Read carefully all articles 
which come to your notice on education and on the pub- 
lic schools. If the points are well taken, aid all you can 
to make things better; but read with attention so that 
you may determine in your own mind, whether or not, 
there is another side to the question. Bring all such 
matters to the notice of someone in whom you have 



122 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

confidence, who is at the same time, an educator or 
teacher. 

Our public schools are called " immoral " and " god- 
less " because the Holy Bible is not read to the scholars, 
and because religion or morality is not taught therein. 

No wholesale charges have been filed against the teach- 
ers in the schools to substantiate the unqualified charge 
of " immorality." We wish to call attention to an im- 
portant matter in the moral education of children quite 
often overlooked or ignored. 

We quote from page 206 — Pope Leo's letter — " On 
the Chief Duties of Christians as Citizens : " ". . . all 
should be intimately persuaded that the minds of chil- 
dren are most influenced by the training they receive 
at home. If in the early days they find within the walls 
of their homes the rule of an upright life and the disci- 
pline of Christian virtues, the future welfare of the State 
will, in great measure, be guaranteed." 

With so many teachers in the Public Schools belong- 
ing to the Catholic Church, and following teachings to 
live an upright life, together with the efforts of parents, 
as to home training, we feel sure that the morals of the 
public schools will compare favorably with any and all 
other schools, public or private. 

Again we quote from page 332, Pope Leo XIII, 
" On Catholicity in the United States," speaking of 
societies and organization of laymen says, " Let them, 
however, never allow this to escape their memory that 
whilst it is proper and desirable to assert and secure 
the rights of the many, yet this is not to be done, by a 
violation of duty, and that these are very important 
duties, not to touch what belongs to another, to allow 
everyone to be free in the management of his own af- 
fairs, not to hinder anyone to dispose of his services 
when he please and where he please . . . the state of 
the times, therefore, bids Catholics to labor for the tran- 
quillity of the commonwealth, and for this purpose to 
obey the laws, abhor violence, and seek no more than 
equity or justice permits." 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 123 

These wise words were written in 1894 after we had 
had some labor troubles, contrasting these bits of fine 
advice with the few extracts given in the early part of 
our remarks shows how our points of view may be the 
same on some questions and widely divergent on others. 

Some months ago, the New York Tribune stated that, 
" From time immemorial Cardinals enjoyed the social 
and official status of Princes of the Blood." At the 
English Court, for instance, it was stated that the Arch- 
bishop of Canterbury (of the established Church of Eng- 
land) who has " precedence over every other dignitary 
of the realm," and foreign ambassadors as well, are 
" compelled to make way for any and every Cardinal." 

As the majority of Americans are not familiar with 
the proceedings of European courts, it was probably as- 
sumed that these statements were correct, though that 
fact even if true, does not stand as a reason why we 
should follow such a precedent. 

From the Court Circular published in the London 
Times, Saturday, May 4th, 1912, page II, we shall read 
the list of guests at a state dinner given by King George 
in the exact order of their official precedence — 

" The King gave a dinner-party this evening, to which 
the following had the honor of being invited: 

" His Excellency the United States Ambassador (the 
Hon. Whitelaw Reid) ; His Excellency the Spanish Am- 
bassador (Senor Don Wenceslao de Villa Urrutia) ; His 
Excellency the Turkish Ambassador (His Highness Tew- 
fik Pacha) ; His Eminence Cardinal Bourne; the Duke 
of Devonshire, etc, etc." 

Inaccurate reports, such as occurred in reference to 
the precedence of Cardinals at State functions taking 
rank next to the President of the United States and out- 
ranking all foreign diplomats, simply keeps the breach 
open between those who favor all distinctions being 
kept on true and independent American principles. For 
we have seen that whatever may be " the rule in all for- 
eign lands " it is not the rule in England ; why should 
we be told otherwise? 



I2 4 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

In the Cincinnati Enquirer of Sunday, July 14, 191 2, 
there is a copyrighted interview with Archbishop Gio- 
vanni Bonzano, the Pope's Representative in the United 
States, who says: 

" Cardinals . . . are * Princes ' with well defined 
principalities," i.e., Cardinal O'Connell calls the State of 
Massachusetts his principality. 

What then becomes of his subjects, many of whom 
are naturalized citizens of the United States ; can they 
be loyal citizens of this government and at the same time 
loyal Catholics ? Pope Leo's letters would answer in the 
negative. 

But listen to the words of the law of the U. S. in 
respect to the oath of allegience to the United States, an 
oath required of all aliens who apply for admission to 
citizenship in this country. 

" The applicant, shall, before he is admitted to cit- 
izenship, declare on oath in open court that he will sup- 
port the constitution of the United States, and that he 
absolutely and entirely renounces and abjures all al- 
legiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, 
state or Sovereignty, and particularly (by name) to the 
prince, potentate, state or sovereignty of which he was 
before a citizen or subject, that he will support and 
defend the Constitution of the United States against all 
enemies, foreign and domestic, and bear true faith and 
allegiance to the same. 

" In case the alien applying to be admitted to citizen- 
ship has borne any hereditary title, or has been of any 
of the orders of Nobility, in the kingdom or state from 
which he came, he shall in addition to the foregoing 
requisites, make an express renunciation of his title or 
order of Nobility in the court in which his application 
is made, and his renunciation shall be recorded in the 
Court." 

We have no princes in America. Then why raise the 
question of precedence at State functions? 

Reflections have been made of an uncomplimentary 
character upon marriages consummated in accordance 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 125 

with the civil laws of our various states and solemnized 
in religious ceremony other than the holy sacrament of 
marriage as sanctioned by the Roman Catholic Hier- 
archy. 

The Catholic Church in a recent case recited by Dr. 
Barnett, declared that the child of parents, one of whom 
was a Catholic and the other a Protestant, was illegiti- 
mate ; because the parents were not married by a Priest ; 
thus setting aside the marriage laws of Pennsylvania. 

Pope Leo XIII in his Encyclical on " Christian Mar- 
riage," dated February 10, 1880, page 59, says: "The 
true origin of marriage, Venerable Brothers, is well 
known to all. Though the revilers of the Christian faith 
refuse to acknowledge the never-interrupted doctrine of 
the Church on this subject." " Christ, therefore, hav- 
ing renewed marriage to such and so great excellence, 
commended and entrusted all the discipline bearing upon 
these matters to his Church," page 65. 

But it was not until the year 1563, by an edict of the 
Council of Trent, that the Roman Catholic Church re- 
quired the celebration of marriage to be an essentially 
religious ceremony. 

Marriage in Italy is a civil ceremony, and is the only 
one recognized by the state. 

In Belgium, where the Catholic party is politically 
quite strong but actively opposed by the Socialists, mar- 
riage must be celebrated before a civil officer of the 
State. 

In Switzerland the civil ceremony must precede any 
religious celebration. 

In Germany, also, the stronghold of the Catholic party 
in politics, marriage is a civil contract to which the state 
is an added party. Religious definitions, dogmas, and 
obligations respecting marriage are not considered by 
the German code. 

In Austria the declaration of consent must generally 
be given before the spiritual pastor of one of the parties 
or before his representative. Then follows the civil 
marriage. 



126 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

In Hungary the marriage is solemnized before the reg- 
istrar of the district in which one of the parties resides. 

In Spain Catholics are married according to the laws 
of the Catholic Church as governed by the decrees of 
the Council of Trent. Non-Catholics are married by a 
Municipal Judge. About the same procedure obtains in 
Portugal. 

In Roumania the French Civil Code prevails. 

In Servia the rules of the Greek Catholic Church pre- 
vail, but parties of other religions are married in ac- 
cordance with the principles of the sect to which they 
belong. But a civil marriage is not recognized. 

In Bulgaria, in Greece, the rules of the Greek Cath- 
olic Church prevail. 

In the United States of Brazil, 99 per cent, of the peo- 
ple are Roman Catholics and of course, consider mar- 
riage as a religious sacrament, but the law of the land 
considers it simply as a civil contract. 

Therefore, we Americans resent the attitude of the 
Roman Catholic Hierarchy toward the civil marriage 
laws of these United States of America. 

The foregoing quotations are taken from " The Mar- 
riage and Divorce Laws of the World," edited by Hya- 
cinthe Ringrose, D. C. L., published by The Musson- 
Draper Co., London, New York and Paris. 

As to divorce, that is an evil in some respects. It is 
being dealt with by far-seeing men and women and will 
reach an adjustment in due time. A separation is al- 
lowed by the Roman Catholic Hierarchy, and in Pope 
Leo XIII's Encyclical Letter " On Christian Marriage," 
page 80, he says : " When indeed, matters have come 
to such a pitch that it seems impossible for them to live 
together any longer, then the Church allows them to live 
apart, and strives at the same time to soften the evils 
of this separation by such remedies and helps as are 
suited to their condition, yet she never ceases to endeavor 
to bring about a reconciliation, and never despairs of 
doing so. But these are extreme cases, and they would 
seldom exist if men and women entered into the marriage 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 127 

state with proper dispositions, not influenced by passion, 
but entertaining right ideas of the duties of marriage 
and of its noble purposes ; neither would they anticipate 
their marriage by a series of sins drawing down upon 
them the wrath of God " — To all of which we say — 
Amen. 

We now want to read two statements, one from a 
Catholic and one from a Protestant source. To show 
to what extremes partisans sometimes go, and to indi- 
cate how each may be used to agitate an already com- 
plicated question : 

First we shall read from The Sunday Watchman, 
date of June 30th, 1912, page II, sermon of Rev. D. S. 
Phelan, who says: 

" Tell us we think more of the Church than we do 
of the United States, of course we do . . . why if the 
government of the United States were at war with the 
Church, we would say to-morrow, to Hell with the gov- 
ernment of the United States." 

Secondly, we shall read from The Daily News, 
Denver, Col., Monday, July 29, 1912, page 2, sermon 
of Rev. Elmer V. Huffer, of the First Christian Church 
at Grand Junction, Colo., who denounces Catholicism, 
declaring the Catholic Church to be " The most damnable, 
cursable, and infamous institution in the United States." 

Such sweeping condemnatory statements weaken the 
cause of him who uses them. But the Priest who says 
" To Hell with the government of the United States," 
stands in the relation of a sworn and deadly enemy if 
he is not a citizen of this country ; and is talking treason 
if he is a citizen. 

The Protestant preacher is condemning Catholicism, of 
which the Priest referred to is a champion. The Prot- 
estant failed to distinguish between the politico-ecclesi- 
astical machine of Rome, and the religion of the Catholic 
people. The Catholic people are taught that " His Holi- 
ness the Pope, is the Vicegerent of God. The Priest 
represents the Pope. The Priest in his function stands 
in the place of Christ, and he alone can absolve one from 



128 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

Sin." Therefore, the Priest who says, " To Hell with 
the Government of the United States," knows the tre- 
mendous influence his words and attitude will have on 
his people, who are taught " obedience to the authority 
of the Apostolic See." Such treasonable statements are 
a thousand times more to be condemned than the wild 
declarations of the parson at Grand Junction, who will 
be criticised by Protestants and Masons equally as 
severely as by Catholics. 

What are we to do ? 

Bring business methods to bear upon this question, 
which is not one of religion at all. 

Organize and systematize on the basis of individual 
liberty and cooperation. 

Forget politics as such, but unite as loyal citizens. 

Know who your people are in your precinct, in your 
ward, in your city, in your State, in your Country. 

Deal with people of your own kind. 

Why? 

Because one-sixth of the people of this country are 
compelled to do all of these things when " so ordered," 
with the result that the boycott is effective for the pur- 
poses of the Roman Catholic Hierarchy whenever they 
choose to threaten with it. 

Read the newspapers. Note all Catholic items. Try 
a reply to some one item on which you are posted and 
know the other side. Go to the Editor, listen to his ex- 
cuse for not publishing it, and note how adroitly it is 
mentioned " we do not want to excite religious contro- 
versy." 

Why? 

The boycott. Advertisers will go back on Him, and 
if any pressure is needed on the advertiser, it is easy 
to alarm the managers of stores, because " the people are 
taught to obey their Bishops and their Priest." . 

Are these things true? 

Investigate and come to your own independent con- 
clusion. 

Suppose we are united upon the basis of individual 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 129 

liberty, arrive at our independent and individual con- 
clusion, act accordingly, as individuals. Not ordered to 
do it, but we do it of our own free will and accord. 
Very soon we shall find " everybody's doin' it." 

And all of the time exempt the Catholic people from 
blame. They have been taught from infancy to do ex- 
actly as we find them doing, until the " way opens " for 
them to exercise the right of independent thinking. 

To arouse their resentment by senseless condemnation 
of things sacred to them is just exactly what the politico- 
ecclesiastical Hierarchy in Rome wants done. Because 
it keeps the Catholic people united against their enemies. 
If we are the friends of Individual Life, Individual Lib- 
erty and Individual Happiness, we will never forget the 
distinction herein made. 

What we want is the truth. Not inferences or 
guesses. 

Every time things are exaggerated, and every time 
matters are written upon, based on rumors and not upon 
facts, we suffer more than do those whom we thus falsely 
and unjustly misrepresent. 

We are saying this in the interest of any good we may 
hope to do in the future, calling it to your attention 
simply that you may correct wrong reports should you 
know them to be false. I am trying to direct your at- 
tention to the mistake of exaggerating anything, even 
though it be based on truth. 

In all sincerity and with no malice in our heart toward 
any individual, we think it wise for all men and women 
too, to promote pure patriotism and a sacred regard for 
the welfare of our country. Our Civil duties and re- 
sponsibilities are things in which we all have a common 
interest. They form a basis for a community of inter- 
ests, our personal interests, and the question is : 

u What is the true measure of man's value?" 

There are two sides to every question, to this ques- 
tion we may answer: 

First, " Man's value to himself as an individual is the 
only sure and true measure of his value as an active, 



130 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

living factor in the social organism of which he is a 
part, by the development of individual Intelligence, Cour- 
age, and Perseverance, and a sense of Individual Re- 
sponsibility through the power and process of a broad 
and liberal education," or we may answer: 

Secondly, " Man has but one value, namely : his value 
to the great aggregate body of which he is a part, and 
his value even in that capacity is measured by the de- 
gree to which his individual will, intelligence, and con- 
science are subject to the domination and the control 
of that aggregate body." " Great Psychological 
t ime," page 385. 

We may, if we so desire, exercise a free and inde- 
pendent choice in this matter; and after making such 
a choice that, " decent respect for the opinions of man- 
kind " as stated in the Declaration of Independence of 
the United States, makes it incumbent upon us to grant 
to those who may differ with us the same consideration 
as we demand for ourselves. 



ENCYCLICAL LETTER POPE LEO XIII, 
AUGUST 4, 1879 

THE purpose of the letter may be described in the 
following propositions. 
1. The necessity to religion of a reconciliation 
with the understanding. 

2. The necessity to the world of a system of thought 
instead of a system to which, being unthinkable, 
only a mechanical assent can be given. 

3. The obligation of the Church to supply such a sys- 
tem. 

4. The ability of the Church to do this. (Pope Pius 
X, 1907, in his attitude against modernism or the 
" reconciliation of religion and the understanding " 
would argue the contrary.) 

In order to give practical effect to these propositions 
and do what lay in the Church's power to promote the 
movement thus recognized by Leo XIII as imminent, 
the Pope authoritatively reinstated the scholastic philoso- 
phy especially as represented by St. Thomas Aquinas 
to be henceforth the basis of Catholic education and 
teaching. 

Extract from " The Tablet," August 27, 1904, an ad- 
dress by the Bishop of Newport (quoted from " Life 
and Matter," by Sir Oliver Lodge) : " If the formulae 
of modern science contradict the science of Catholic 
dogma, it is the former that must be altered, not the lat- 
ter. If modern metaphysics are incompatible with the 
metaphysical terms and expressions adopted by councils 
and explained by the Catholic schools, then modern meta- 
physics must be rejected as erroneous." 

The collective researches of the Orientalists, and espe- 
cially the labors of late years of the students of com- 

131 



132 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

parative Philology and the Science of Religion, have led 
them to ascertain as follows: an immense number of 
manuscripts, and even printed works known to have ex- 
isted, are now to be found no more. They have disap- 
peared without leaving the slightest trace behind them. 
Were they works of no importance they might in the 
natural course of time, have been left to perish, and 
their very names would have been obliterated from hu- 
man memory. But it is not so, for, as now ascertained, 
most of them contained the true keys to works still ex- 
tant, and entirely incomprehensible, for the greater por- 
tion of their readers, without these additional volumes 
of commentaries and explanations. Such as for in- 
stance the works of Lao-tse, the predecessor of Con- 
fucius. 

And Confucius was charged with divination by his 
enemies. Eighteen hundred years later the Catholics 
were burning people at the stake suspected of the same 
thing ; and lo ! ! about 200 years ago they used the name 
of Confucius in order to make converts in China. 

Thus the progressive intelligence of the age repudiates 
the sacerdotal control of religion, it refuses to accept re- 
ligion as historical only and resting on tradition. 

The Pope, by his action in reinstating the scholastic 
method and philosophy recognizes the signs of times, in 
that individual reason and personal experience must be 
reckoned with. 

In spite of lost books and burned heretics, humanity 
is coming into its own, and the spiritual development of 
the human race is breaking the control of those who fail 
to grasp the significance of Pope Leo's reinstatement of 
scholasticism, as witness the quotation from the Bishop 
of Newport in the foregoing. 



WHY I BELIEVE IN ANOTHER LIFE 

ANOTHER life, or immortality, means to me, the 
conscious self-identity of the individual intelli- 
gence independent of the physical body. This 
fact most people believe cannot be demonstrated this 
side of the grave. 

This self-identity is the most persistent fact in my 
experience. From the time I can remember anything 
up to the present moment, I have never lost conscious- 
ness of myself, as myself. It persists in my dreams, and 
also dreams within dreams. My dreams at times are 
so vivid, that I must discriminate between things in the 
dream state, from the things physical, but the conscious- 
ness of being myself is in no way disturbed. 

Over twenty years of study of comparative religion 
and philosophy, has converted the intuitive perception, 
as to the truth of self-identity being independent of the 
physical brain and physical body, into an intuitive con- 
viction. 

The careful and analytical study of " The Harmonic 
Series of Books " enables me to fully appreciate and 
partly comprehend the last chapter in " The Great 
Work." 

The careful study of " The Great Psychological 
Crime," and then an analytical study of Chapter VIII, 
entitled " The Physiology and Pathology of Hypno- 
tism " convinces me that St. Paul's statement : " There 
is a natural body and a spiritual body " is true. 

The personal experience of the authors of " The Har- 
monic Series of Books " corroborates all that I had 
previously known, including that which I had tentatively 
accepted, in regard to the question of another life. 

I am satisfied that the teachings of the School of Nat- 

133 



134 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

ural Science will enlarge the conscious preceptions of 
anyone who will give the necessary time to a study of 
them; and if he will live a life according to his own 
highest standard of right, he will be on the pathway that 
will sooner or later enable him to convert his intuitive 
convictions, or faith, into a personal experience or 
knowledge, 



THE PURSUIT OF KNOWLEDGE 

46 A S desire is found to be the incentive to action 
L\ where motives are readily analyzable, it is 

±. JL probably the Universal Incentive." — Herbert 
Spencer. 

Man may fix his desire upon any special object, but 
in the end, he expects happiness. He wants freedom 
from the daily grind of life. He wants contentment in 
mind and in body. To secure this happiness, man nat- 
urally chooses various pursuits in life ; and among these 
the prominent ones are the pursuit of love, of fame, of 
wealth, of power, and of knowledge. 

The young man or woman starting on the journey of 
life desires to have a home, and with the ideal helpmate 
by one's side, love and happiness are dreamed of as se- 
cure. The dream may be tinted with the sidelights of 
following out some lesser desire, like the study of music 
or literature. But how often do all these dreams end 
in disappointment; for love may fail, sickness and 
trouble come unheralded, or death rob him at once of 
all that is dear, with the result that desire remains un- 
satisfied. 

Suppose the young man's special object is fame. He 
may, in the eyes of the world, be famous ; but his heart 
tells him that his desire is unquenched, for all that he 
has achieved prompts him in vain regret that it is not 
more. In his own heart he knows that it has required 
no great effort to work for self alone; he knows that 
to do that out of a desire for fame, which he would not 
do for the love of mankind, makes others, who under- 
stand human nature, because of their own purity of 
motives, look upon his character as imperfect. 

As to the pursuit of wealth. The young man nat- 
urally wants to make a living, and when this point has 

135 



136 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

been attained he wants a little surplus, with each addi- 
tion to the surplus he still wants more. And with a 
great many, there comes the readiness and the willing- 
ness to sacrifice all for money. But with the acquisition 
of wealth comes no satisfaction of one's desire; on the 
contrary, care and trouble attend its management. He 
still finds something wrong, if he has pursued wealth 
as an end in life, if he has sacrificed his manhood piece 
by piece to secure his riches, and to hold them. Goethe 
has said : " Nobody should be rich, but those who un- 
derstand it." It does seem that some are born to own ; 
and owning, some few properly administer wealth. 

Thus through the list of human activities, wealth, 
fame and power, pursued as ends, do not carry with 
them satisfaction to the inmost desire, the cravings of 
the human soul. 

Beyond all of these objects of human life there is one, 
the pursuit of which is unattended by unsatisfied desire. 
That, to which reference is made is the pursuit of knowl- 
edge. Desire increases if the pursuit of learning is in 
earnest. It is true that one wants to know more and 
more, but with it there comes capacity to enjoy. The 
fact is also established that the true student becomes in- 
different to the ordinary prizes of life and the pursuit 
of knowledge occupies and satisfies that inner center of 
his being in which he lives the real life. 

The young man is told to get an education; his par- 
ents send him to school for the beginning of that educa- 
tion. In reality, much confusion exists, and instruction 
is confused with education. Education means to draw 
out ; it is applied to the drawing out and the development 
of the mental powers, and should also include the moral 
and the physical ; it means to put the individual in pos- 
session of his natural abilities. But restricting the term 
to the mental powers, it is more important to train and 
develop these powers, than to attempt to instruct the 
student. Properly train the mind, and instruction comes 
easily, for one may then instruct one's self. Memory 
takes care of itself in such a process and the idea of 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 137 

u filling the head full of so much knowledge " disap- 
pears, for studies then take their true place as means to 
an end, the end of mental development. 

The love of learning is better than learning itself. 
The study of the classics gives an appreciation of the 
classics or interest in classical history or literature. 
The student should receive from his teacher this much 
at least, as well as a demonstration that exactness in 
the use of words comes readily to the classical scholar. 
None can gainsay, but that, the classical scholar is best 
equipped for the pursuit of knowledge later in life, in 
business as well as in professional or technical pur- 
suits. Classical study trains the mind to habits of cor- 
rect thinking, such as the study of one's mother tongue 
cannot approach. But that teacher who can inspire the 
student with interest in this or in any study, has found 
the secret of successfully instructing him, and such a 
student would not, on leaving college, exclaim as did 
Byron : " Then farewell Horace, whom I hated so." 
Byron hated the book learning, and the mistake is to 
worship book learning too much. This again confuses 
instruction and education. It taxes the memory, and 
does no t cultivate the mind. For memory is but a fac- 
ulty of the mind and the mind itself is the sum of those 
states of consciousness in the three aspects of thought, 
will and feeling. 

Life is not all a rosy dream, and we must expect 
times of trouble, of anxiety, and of suffering; when 
these come, it is a comfort to have a deep interest in 
something outside ourselves, and an anchorage which 
will help us to escape from ourselves. If our study has 
not taught us the kind of knowledge we should pursue, 
then we have with Faust to exclaim : 

" I've now, alas ! Philosophy, 
Medicine and Jurisprudence too, 
And to my cost Theology 
With ardent labor studied thro; 
And here I stand, with all my lore, 
Poor fool, no wiser, than before." 



i 3 8 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

As Faust did not find satisfaction of desire in the pur- 
suit of learning, neither shall we unless we sooner or 
later discover the object of study which transcends all 
other objects because it includes them all. 

An Hermetic axiom runs thus : " A stone becomes 
a plant, a plant an animal ; an animal a man ; and man, a 
God." Thus " Man, Know Thyself " is a starting 
point for the acquirement of knowledge, and it is a sub- 
ject in which we must have some interest, no matter 
what our views may be as to man's nature and destiny. 
Pursuit of knowledge of man, soon discloses the fact 
that he is fearfully and wonderfully made. The bony 
man, the muscular man, the nervous man, are all parts 
of the one, the unit. Yet who of us really thinks of 
man as any of these when thinking of ourselves. We 
refer everything to the real center of consciousness, to 
the " I am I." This is the center that we would 
reach by education, this is the center we consciously or 
unconsciously draw out and expand. This is the cen- 
ter of evolution. Hence knowledge of man's being is 
the highest of all possessions, the highest of all knowl- 
edge, and the knowledge the world most needs to-day. 
The knowledge with which man can do the most good 
in all of the activities of life. In the acquirement of 
our own education and for the guidance of those who 
come after us, it is time that we make some analysis 
of methods and results. Time that we satisfy ourselves 
as to our basis of knowing, the process of knowing, and 
what it is that knows. We have at hand, in our own 
experience, the real answers to these questions. It re- 
quires no further demonstration than to say that con- 
sciousness is. a fact in our experience. It is, the one 
persistent thing in our nature. Our " I am I " or self- 
consciousness continues with us from earliest recollec- 
tion to the last fitful gasp. To this center, or to our 
real self, is referred all that we experience, and we find 
in experience the basis of all knowledge. " To experi- 
ence " is synonymous with " to know." One may learn 
a thing but that does not mean that one really knows. 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 139 

Learning is a mental process entirely, and depends upon 
memory for its permanency. But if this learning pene- 
trates to the conscious center and from there, is reflected 
outward again by molding the individual life, then we 
can say that learning becomes knowledge, for experience 
is then the test of that which we have learned. 

We have now to pursue further the thing that knows 
and to find out how it knows, for in doing this we are 
at the center of the subject of " The Pursuit of Knowl- 
edge " for we have but reaffirmed that the greatest 
" study of mankind is man." Schelling said : " God 
sleeps in the mineral ; breathes in the plant ; moves in 
the animal, and wakes up to consciousness in man." 

Three factors are necessary to the evolution and to 
some understanding of the universe as well as man, 
viz. : matter, force and consciousness. Every atom of 
matter is endowed with consciousness, " a consciousness 
of its own kind, and in its own degree," says Edison. 

The relation of consciousness to the brain and the 
relation of thought to the brain are interesting and im- 
portant parts of the study we are now pursuing. Ordi- 
narily, mind is thought to be immaterial, or to be merely 
the name of the action of the brain in evolving thought; 
a process wholly unknown except by inference or meta- 
physically ; and according to the materialistic philosophy 
of reducing all problems to terms of matter and force, 
no brain no mind. A great deal of time has been spent 
in cataloguing some mental functions, but the terms are 
confused which may be used to describe actual meta- 
physical and spiritual facts about man. The reason for 
the confusion of terms for such purposes is the influence 
of dogmatic religion during many centuries past, for it 
is part of history that in the name of religion, there 
have been asserted and enforced, dogmas and doctrines 
which reason could not accept. Add to this the nat- 
ural strife that has grown up between science and reli- 
gion, as soon as the former broke down the old bar- 
riers, and dealt with the facts in nature for the sake 
of gaining real knowledge for itself. The reaction 



i 4 o SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

against religion naturally led science into a materialistic 
view of man, but the advance guard in these times has 
already taken the steps that will lead the van into a 
study of man and nature from a broader, and therefore 
a more rational and more religious plane than has been 
the case. Mind is the arena in which consciousness 
displays itself. Consciousness is the receiving faculty 
of the individual intelligence. The individual intelli- 
gence is you — me. It is the knower, the perceiver, the 
thinker. It enables us to realize : " I am I — that — I 
am." The course of evolution developed the body as 
the vehicle of life, and these together afforded a 
proper instrument for the expression of desire. 
Finally there came the form of man with a better brain, 
a deeper capacity than that of any animal. But this 
man- form needed something to distinguish it from the 
animal ; and that something is the individual intelligence, 
by the aid of which he may realize that he has reached 
the plane of moral accountability, a proper discharge of 
which will help him to evolve still higher faculties. 

Evidence and correct reasoning are processes that lead 
to knowledge. The evidence of the duality of mind is 
apparent upon examination of our own interior life, 
and we are led to conclude that some help toward ac- 
quiring knowledge is to be obtained by studying our 
experiences in ourself. Thus one learns as he appre- 
hends a thing, and knows as he comprehends. The 
learning is a mental process ; the knowing concerns con- 
scious experience. Of course thought and conscious- 
ness are inter-related and mutually dependent in man 
at this stage of his evolution. We must also remem- 
ber that the very word " man " traced to its source in 
the dim and misty past, comes from the root mu of the 
Sanscrit verb " to think." 

In this sense then, the basis of all knowledge is ex- 
perience. To know a thing is «to become the thing 
known. Thought, will and feeling, which we call mind, 
reproduce the world to us in consciousness. 

In consciousness we have preserved the essence of 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 141 

experience. Thus in the pursuit of knowledge, we have 
the thing known, the knower, and the process of know- 
ing. In real knowledge the process of knowing disap- 
pears and the knower and the thing known are one. 
(See " The Study of Man," by J. D. Buck for a careful 
elucidation of this proposition.) 

This mind of man makes him inquire and ask 
questions, whether he will or not. Though these ques- 
tions may not be asked of anyone or formulated dis- 
tinctly yet none of us are free from these inquiries. 
We would like to knozv things as they are, because of 
the outside shell which presents itself in the form of 
technicalities and in the details of any department of 
human knowledge, we allow ourselves to drift aimlessly 
and finally care nothing as to whether our questionings 
are worth an answer at all. 

Pursuit of knowledge means to go in search of truth 
using all sources of information, not forgetting the inex- 
haustible recesses of one's own nature. With this in 
mind, the student, after reading a few books would see, 
that, a basic proposition is universality of law. Nature 
has no water-tight compartments, and the attempts in 
the past to force the division of the universe into nat- 
ural and the supernatural; the natural governed by 
law, and the supernatural governed by caprice, is a con- 
tradiction ; it is unscientific and irreligious. It is better 
to view nature as all that ever has been or will be, and 
include the mental and spiritual, as well as the physical 
planes, in the play of her phenomena. (See "The 
Great Psychological Crime " for a complete analysis of 
this proposition.) 

Take now the universality of law, for all must be in 
accordance with law. Chance, or so-called luck, cannot 
for a moment be admitted. Then take a common ex- 
perience in daily life. We see that growth is universal, 
as it is seen in the mind and the body, as well as in ex- 
ternal nature. 

The next question comes as to how we grow? A 
common daily experience gives us a clew; the lungs 



142 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

expand and contract, taking in pure air and giving off 
the impure air. The heart dilates until its compart- 
ments are filled with blood; it contracts and sends the 
life current out to the limits of the body. Then in the 
Sacred Scriptures of the ancients, you will find a law 
constantly insisted upon, viz. : " The in-breathing and 
the out-breathing of Brahm," or action and reaction. 
Then again in our own time, we find Huxley (Romanes 
Lectures, 1893, " Evolution and Ethics ") acknowledges 
that the law of evolution and involution, he was then 
expounding, had been taught by Buddha 600 years b. c. 
as well as by many of the old Greeks. (See "The 
Harmonics of Evolution " for a resume of Darwin and 
Drummond and for the logical sequence of Evolution.) 

So we glean this fact, evolution and involution are 
the modern synonyms, for the inbreathing and the out- 
breathing law of the ancients. It means that everything 
grows from the center outwardly to circumference, and 
this expansion from within outward or evolution, is 
followed by a reaction from circumference to center, 
from without to within, or involution. Everything in 
nature must grow in the same way, from atom to uni- 
verse. Man himself, can be no exception; he must 
evolve and involve, and once seeing that the real man is 
the " I am I " and not the body, then it must follow 
that just as there is a day and a night for the body, so 
there is a day-time and a night-time for the real man. 
Analogy and correspondence are guides that go with the 
earnest seeker after truth, to lead him out of the laby- 
rinth of apparent doubt into the clear plane, where 
reason fortified by experience, is conscious of real 
knowledge. 

With law as a background, and with conservation of 
consciousness as much as the conservation of any other 
force, man is not 

" A being darkly wise and rudely great ; m 
With too mucn knowledge for the skeptic side, 
With too much weakness for the Stoic's pride, 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 143 

He hangs between ; in doubt to act or rest ; 
In doubt to deem himself a god or beast." 

We laugh, we cry, we are born, we die, 

Who will riddle me the how and the why? 

The bulrush nods unto its brother. 

The wheat ears whisper to each other. 

What is it they say? What do they there? 

Why two and two make four? Why round is not square? 

Why the rock stands still, and the light clouds fly? 

Why the heavy oak groans, and the white willows sigh? 

Why deep is not high, and high is not deep? 

Whether we wake or whether we sleep? 

Whether we sleep or whether we die? 

How you are you? Why I am I? 

Who will riddle me the how and the why? 

The study of man will riddle you " the how and the 
why " and carry you far along into real knowledge, by 
showing how to make a systematic use of the knowledge, 
of your own experience and of the common things in 
life. (See "The Great Work" for an elaboration of 
this idea.) 

Systems and classifications are made by man, and no 
man-made system ever has contained the whole truth 
because of his inability to encompass the whole of na- 
ture. On the other hand, nature everywhere shows us 
order and system, so that we must beware of so-called 
discoveries of the world's greatest secrets, and look for 
a few principles they may have discerned. Pursue 
knowledge from all standpoints, proceeding from facts 
to discern law, and from law to explain facts ; holding 
all deductions as tentative and throwing the light of ex- 
perience upon them, so that this method of study and 
observation can be of the greatest value. We, as 
finite beings may not arrive at final truth, but our ex- 
periences will assure us that we are on the path that 
leads to the apprehension of truth. Then applying all 
knowledge to the unfolding of the center of conscious- 
ness or the evolution of the higher life, man may aid 
the journey of the soul, and 



144 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

" This truth within his mind rehearse, 
That in a boundless universe ; 
Is boundless better, boundless worse, 
Think you this mould of hopes and fears, 
Could find no statelier than his peers 
In yonder hundred million spheres ? " 



A STUDY: WHICH CAME FIRST, THE CIVI- 
LIZED OR THE SAVAGE MAN ? * 

THE Masonic author of "The Great Work," 
gives, in chapter four, '* The Lineal Key," that 
by which a zealous student of Masonry may dis- 
cover something of lasting interest, in regard to " The 
Lineage and History of the Great School of Initiates 
of Old." 

The author says: 

The records cover a conservative and unbroken chain, 
backward from the immediate present, to a time many 
thousands of years before the Mosaic period. In truth, 
the chain is complete to a time long before Egypt had 
become a center of civilization of learning or of power. 

This is a momentous statement agreeing with high 
authority, in that view which considers Egypt as the 
cradle of all civilization; and further, some scientists 
go so far as to state that Egypt has " no stone age." 
Gerald Massey 2 says : 

Like the Goddess Neith, Egypt came from herself, 
and the fruit she bore was a civilization, an art, a my- 
thology, a typology, absolutely autochthonous. 

We see no sign of Egypt in embryo; of its inception, 
growth, development and birth, nothing is known. It 
has no visible line of descent and so far as modern no- 
tions go, no offspring; it is without Genesis or Exodus. 

Directly appertaining to the questions we are about to 
raise in this paper, is the meaning given to " The Great 
Work " by Albert Pike, long before the book bearing 
such a title was " brought to light." He says : 

The Great Work is above all things, the Creation of 

i The Tyler Keystone, August 20, 1908. 
2 Vol. I, page 7, "The Book of the Beginnings." 

145 



146 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

Man by himself ; that is to say, the emancipation of his 
Will, and the full and entire conquest which he effects 
of his faculties and his future. (" Morals and Dogma" 
by Albert Pike, page 773.) 

Bearing in mind these preliminary remarks, in the 
light of the great antiquity of the Great School referred 
to by the author of " The Great Work," let us inquire : 

1. Are savage races the descendants of civilized 
races? or 

2. Are civilized races the descendants of savage 
races ? 

Books have been written by adherents of each of the 
foregoing propositions; we shall simply touch upon the 
problems sufficiently to throw each proposition into re- 
lief and pass on to other topics concerned in the solution 
of the vexed questions. 

At present, there is no settled opinion on the subject; 
men eminent in the pursuit of knowledge along these 
special lines, support one or the other proposition. In 
the absence of a verdict from such eminent judges, we 
may conclude that the evidence is not all in. And at 
this juncture, it is well to recall Herbert Spencer's say- 
ing, viz., " that a mass of heterogeneous facts begin to 
assume order as soon as an hypothesis is thrown among 
them." 

Then, if the theory thus applied to the facts explains 
them all and is consistent in all its bearings upon other 
related facts, science labels the theory a law. 

We shall find many facts seemingly in contradiction 
to each other, and we shall hope to show that these 
same facts may possibly assume a greater degree of 
order in the light of certain theories. 

The difficulty continually met with in all branches of 
research, is the incompleteness of our knowledge. 
Geology for instance, is acquainted with but 10 miles 
of the thickness of the earth's crust, and what is that, 
compared to its 8,000 miles of diameter — and this 10 
miles even, is an uncertain mode of calculation, — for 
the reason that known stratas are not superimposed in 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 147 

regular layers, one above the other. In spite of this, 
however, we owe to geology, much that has tended to 
broaden our views and to widen our thought horizon. 

It is well also, to bear in mind that an exact chronol- 
ogy has not yet been agreed upon and that the different 
geological periods represent the lapse of vast years of 
time. Successive stages of civilization may be referred 
to as the age of stone, or bronze, and of iron, but these 
stages in no way imply an exact chronology. These 
stages furthermore, overlap, intermingle, and shade off 
into one another. Some savage races are, to-day, in the 
stone age period of development. The area of existing 
continents, was at one time supposed to have coincided, 
with the first appearance of man on the earth, since 
which event, the relative level of sea and land had re- 
mained stationary; no important geographical change 
having occurred; except some slight additions to the 
deltas of rivers, and loss of narrow strips of land, where 
the sea had encroached upon its shores. But modern 
observations have tended continually to dispel this de- 
lusion and the geologist is now convinced that at no 
given era of the past, have the boundaries of land and 
sea, or the height of the one, or the depth of the other; 
or the geographical range of the species inhabiting 
them, whether plants or animals, become fixed and un- 
changeable. 

This is the testimony of Lyell, the geologist, and this 
is the reason the ethnologists have failed as yet to trace 
back the history of any one race to the area where it 
originated. 

Traces of a stone age in a civilized country are taken 
as evidence that the people rose from the stone-age-man 
to their present position as in Italy, Greece, Palestine, 
Syria, Egypt and India. The over-lapping of these dif- 
ferent ages, and the existence of stone-age-men to-day, 
in countries that are being populated by civilized races, 
show how complex this problem becomes and how care- 
ful one must be in coming to any final decision. In 
future times, stone age implements in late quaternary 



148 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

strata would be taken as an indication that we of the 
20th century civilization, were barbarians; if, in the 
same strata anything remains of our civilization the fu- 
ture students of ancient civilization would have to solve 
exactly the same problem, as we are now trying to solve 
in regard to the civilizations of Egypt, India, Cambodia, 
Peru, Central America, etc. 

The inference of lower degrees of civilization the 
farther back we push our inquiries is based on the theory 
of progressive development, and it may prove to be 
sound ; nevertheless, we must remember that we have no 
distinct evidence, geological or ethnological, that the ap- 
pearance of what we call inferior races of mankind has 
always preceded in chronological order that of the 
higher races. An opinion concurred in by Lyell. 

The vast field of anthropology, dealing as it does, 
with the natural history of the human species, is being 
actively cultivated with a view to making it a complete 
science of man, body and soul, in all modifications of 
sex, temperament, race and civilization. It is a grand 
research into the career of humanity on earth. 

Is there a definite and assured law of progress in 
human affairs, a slow and gradual ascent from the lower 
to the higher? And was that low condition of human- 
ity, of which we think we have prehistoric traces, and 
which is illustrated, some think, by the present condition 
of savages, the starting point of this ascent? Or was 
primeval man a developed and superior being, who has 
retrograded and degenerated into the savage state? Or 
does the solution of these problems, lie in a combination 
of the several elements, in the mean between the two 
extremes ? 

These are grave questions still pending in the world 
of thought which are of immense practical interest, for 
to know the law underlying the ceaseless movement of 
humanity, is the key to the solution of our social con- 
dition. 

Different rates of progress are acknowledged to be 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 149 

a factor in race development, and there have been 
epochs in the world's history at which men trained to 
habits of methodical observation, have really been in a 
position to watch and describe what may be called the 
period of infancy of certain races of mankind. Just 
as the state of savagery is being studied to-day, and the 
results of such studies recorded. But whether or no, 
infant humanity on this earth, had the advantage of 
such intercourse with more developed beings, is a ques- 
tion not yet settled. 

But a reading of chapter XXIII on " Technical Work " 
and chapter XXV on " The Mark of a Master" 
in the book " The Great Work," will give one a new 
line of investigation so far as the instructors of infant 
humanity are concerned. 

This will appeal to individual thinkers, who have 
considered the necessity of venturing the hypothesis, 
that a new order of the factors in the problem may be 
obtained, and perhaps a solution of some of the ele- 
ments of the equation might be thus gained, even if 
complete answers to all the facts are not forthcoming. 

Because there is great difficulty in obtaining con- 
clusive evidence to support the theory of a progressive 
advancement from the savage to the civilized state, and 
this is a statement concurred in by those who hold that 
the theory is the proper one : " There is no recorded 
instance, of a tribe of savages, properly so styled, rising 
into a civilized state, without instruction and assistance 
from a people already civilized." 

To meet the question — " Where then, did the first 
savage race, meet civilized people, to start them up- 
ward in their development?" — it is assumed that some 
races are capable of self-civilization. For the primitive 
condition of man, was one of utter barbarism, some 
authorities say; and from this condition, several races 
have independently raised themselves. Yet, the civi- 
lized races are still rising and the savage races are sta- 
tionary. 



150 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

The extraordinary knowledge possessed by the an- 
cients has led to many modifications in the progressive 
development theory of the human race. 

Just as it has been necessary to deny the origin of 
human races as a gradual and diverging development 
of the progeny of a single pair, in order to have race 
theories harmonize with species theories in animals and 
plants, so the original scheme of the evolution of man 
needs to be, and has been, modified when special study 
has been put upon some of the factors in that evolution. 
When the human race was fairly launched upon its 
career, it became necessary to account for the develop- 
ment of speech and the acquisition of knowledge. 
Humboldt says that " without speech, man is not man ; 
but in order to invent speech, he must first be man," a 
paradox equal to the riddle of the Sphinx. Without 
outside help, savages ever remain savages. May it not 
be true without Divine Instructors, infant humanity 
would ever have remained in the lower planes of human 
activities. 

Rawlinson in his study of " Ancient Religions " 
comes to this conclusion, viz. : 

The theory to which the facts appear on the whole 
to point, is the existence of a primitive religion revealed 
to man from without. 

The same conclusion has been arrived at, regarding 
the knowledge of the ancients. The question then 
would turn to the source of this knowledge " revealed 
to man from without." Suppose we doubt the state- 
ment, then how shall we explain the mystery of the 
marvelous knowledge possessed by the ancients, alleged 
to have developed from lower and animal-like savage, 
the cave man of the Palaeolithic Age — on any other 
equally reasonable grounds. 

Turn to such works as those of Vitruvius Pollio of 
the Augustine Age, in architecture, for instance, in 
which all the rules of proposition are those taught an- 
ciently at initiations, if you would acquaint yourself 
with the truly divine art, and understand the deep 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 151 

esoteric significance hidden in every rule and law of pro- 
portion. 

It is owing to the divine perfection of the architec- 
tural proportions that the ancients could build those 
wonders of all the subsequent ages, their Fanes, Pyra- 
mids, Cave Temples, Cromlechs, Cairns, Altars, etc., 
proving they had the powers of machinery, and a knowl- 
edge of mechanics which modern skill confesses its in- 
ability to equal. Kenealy in his " Book of God " refers 
to that skill as the " works of the hundred handed 
giants." It is Vitruvius who gave to posterity, the rules 
of construction of the Grecian temples, erected to the 
immortal Gods; and the 10 books of Vitruvius on Ar- 
chitecture, can be studied only to advantage esoterically, 
for he was an initiate. 3 

The Druidical circles, the Dolmen, the Temples of 
India and Greece, the Round Towers, and the 127 towns 
of Europe, which were found to be Cyclopean in origin 
by the French Institute, are all the work of initiated 
Priest-Architects, the descendants of these primarily 
taught by the "Sons of God" — justly called "The 
Builders." 

This is what appreciative posterity says of these de- 
scendants : 

They used neither mortar nor cement, nor steel nor 
iron to cut the stones with, and yet they were so art- 
fully wrought, that in many places the joints are not 
seen; though many of the stones as in Peru are 18 feet 
thick, and in the walls of the fortress of Cuzco, there 
are stones of a still greater size. . . . Again, the well 
of Syene, built 5,400 years ago, when that spot was ex- 
actly under the tropic of Cancer, which it has now ceased 
to be, were so constructed that at noon, at the precise 
moment of the solar solstice, the entire disk of the sun 
was seen reflected in their surface — a work which the 
united skill of all the astronomers of Europe would not 
now be able to effect. 4 



Secret Doctrine," Vol. I, page 26 
Book of God," Rev. G. Kenealy. 



152 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

The idea of " Divine Instructors " of mankind re- 
ceives another confirmation in the following, from 
Piazzi Smyth in his " Antiquity of Intellectual Man." 

Sadly may the great pyramids be now broken and in- 
jured beyond repair; and social opposition in our own 
country may run strongly, nay violently, against any 
worthy national effort being put forth, even for the 
monuments' full mensuration before decay proceeds 
much further. But we may nevertheless rest perfectly 
assured that enough of it will still be left to show, and 
when the right time comes to prove, that everything 
was foreseen, and prearranged in every particular from 
the beginning. 

Contrast the knowledge of the ancients and the prog- 
ress of civilized humanity with the following: 

Sir John Lubbock, after a careful study of the men- 
tal condition of savages, concludes: 

1. That the existing savages are not the descendants 
of civilized ancestors. 

2. That the primitive condition of mankind was one 
of utter barbarism. 

That from this condition of utter barbarism, several 
races have independently raised themselves. 

In Sir John Lubbock's reply to the Duke of Argyle's 
criticism of the foregoing conclusions, he (Sir John) 
admits that: 

There is no recorded instance of a tribe of savages 
properly so styled, rising to a civilized state without 
instruction from a people already civilized. 

He further argues, that, 

Man generally, or at least, some particular races, are 
capable of self-civilization. 

This latter statement is necessary to account for any 
civilized condition of humanity, but he admits that con- 
tact with civilized races helps upward the savage races, 
thus really begging the question once he has secured one 
civilized race. A study of the mental condition of sav- 
ages, shows different grades of capacity in different 
tribes. They do not take well to the civilized state, 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 153 

with some notable exceptions ; the children of savages, 
are better material upon which to work, than the adult 
members. 

Read Lubbock's u Mental and Social Condition of 
Savages," and then, think how long it would take them 
uninstructed, to plan and build a temple, an aqueduct, 
construct a road, or bridge a river in the manner we 
point to with just pride. How long would it take them 
to calculate an eclipse or to map out the heavens with 
its zodiac? 

Time — time — how long a time would it take ? The 
Egyptians have on their zodiacs, cut in stone, irrefutable 
proof of records embracing ^/i. sidereal years, or almost 
87,000 years. Bailly has shown that the Hindu calcu- 
lations cover nearly 33 such years or about 850,000 
years. Time enough to have assimilated the arcane 
knowledge, and to have climbed up the ladder of evolu- 
tion, evolving not alone the physical body, but as well, 
finer forces of man's nature, enlarging the content of 
consciousness, that medium through which the individ- 
ual, " the I am I," displays itself ; and reaching out, for 
" More Light " as Goethe says, until he begins to sense 
the eternal verities of nature, and becomes intelligent 
in Swedenborg's use of the term, " when one recognizes 
what is true, as true." 

If the past has been one of progress, we may hope 
that the future will be also, thus it is, that we hope the 
advantages of civilization may be extended to other 
countries and other nations, savage though they may be. 
In our own land, the blessings of civilization need to be 
extended and rendered more equable, so that we shall 
not see before us always, as now, countrymen of our 
own, living in our very midst a life worse than a sav- 
age ; having none of the rough advantages and real 
though coarse pleasures of savage life; nor yet enabled 
to avail themselves of the higher and more noble oppor- 
tunities which lie within the range of civilized man. 

Therefore, without man, there is no civilization, for 
none of the institutions of man, that characterize what 



154 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

we call civilization, are in evidence. The origin of civi- 
lization is thus directly related to the activities of man. 
When these activities are studied on the several planes 
of the manifestation of consciousness, the most potent 
factor in the life of man, we shall be in line to receive 
the " light " vouchsafed by doing " The Great Work " 
whose primary and fundamental purpose is to unfold 
and develop the faculties, capacities and powers of the 
Intelligent Soul of man, to their highest constructive 
possibilities, and then to render helpful service to all 
mankind. Thus " The Great Work " is synonymous 
with " Freemasonry," and civilization is an achievement 
of the Individual Intelligence whose final goal is not yet 
reached, because: 

" Freemasonry is the subjugation of the Human that 
is in man, by the Divine; the conquest of the appetites 
and passions by the moral sense and the reason ; a con- 
tinual effort, struggle and warfare of the Spiritual 
against the Material and the sensual." 5 

5 "Morals and Dogma," Albert Pike, p. 854. 



BURIED CONTINENTS AND LOST CITIES 1 

THE recent disasters beginning with the eruption 
of the volcano, Mt. Pelee, together with the 
San Francisco and South American horrors, 
and the frightful repetition in Jamaica of the terrible 
results which follow when this old earth wobbles, ever 
so little beyond a certain point,, bring up the question of 
lost cities and buried continents. 

We must not forget that this earth is very old and 
has seen a great many huge disturbances. Some idea 
of man's activities in the remote past may be gleaned 
from a reading of the fourth chapter of " The Great 
Work " on the individual achievements of man, and this 
is of curious interest to the Mason who believes in the 
great age of the Masonic idea. 

As the basis of all knowledge is experience, and as 
" Science is exact knowledge of the facts of nature, 
classified and systematized," it is only necessary to con- 
sult the records of science bearing upon buried conti- 
nents, lost islands, cities and peoples destroyed, to learn 
of many other disasters, almost the exact counterpart 
of those of recent times. 



A FEW RECORDS OF DISTURBANCES IN THE PAST. 

In 1783 Iceland was visited by convulsions more tre- 
mendous than any recorded in the modern annals of that 
country. About a month previous to the eruption on 
the mainland a submarine volcano burst forth in the 
sea, at a distance of thirty miles from shore. It ejected 
so much pumice that the sea was covered for a distance 

1 The New Age, November, 1908. 

155 



156 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

of 150 miles, and ships were constantly impeded in 
their course. A new island was thrown up, consisting 
of high cliffs, which was claimed by his Danish Maj- 
esty, and named Nyoe, or the New Island; but before 
a year had elapsed, it sunk beneath the sea, leaving a 
reef of rocks thirty fathoms under water. The earth- 
quake in Iceland in the same year destroyed 9,000 peo- 
ple out of a population of 50,000; twenty villages were 
consumed by fire or inundated by water, and a mass 
of lava thrown out, greater than the bulk of Mont 
Blanc. 

Lyell, in his work on Geology, records the great earth- 
quakes on the island of Java on October 8, 1822. The 
first eruption lasted five hours, and in four days was 
followed by a second and more violent eruption, throw- 
ing out great blocks of basalt to a distance of seven 
miles. The mountain Galung Gung was changed, and 
one side of it became an enormous gulf in the form of a 
semicircle. Four thousand people and 114 villages were 
destroyed. 

Raffele's " History of Java " (Vol I, page 28) re- 
cords a frightful eruption in the province of Tomboro, 
on the island of Sumbawa about 200 miles east of Java. 
It lasted from April to July 12, 1815. The sound of 
the explosion was heard for 1,000 miles. Out of a pop- 
ulation of 12,000 only twenty-six escaped to tell the 
tale. The cinders formed a floating mass, two feet 
thick and several miles in extent, through which ships 
with difficulty forced their way. The darkness in the 
day time during the eruption was more profound than 
the blackest night. The town of Tomboro was over- 
flowed by the sea, so that water remained permanently 
where there was land before. The convulsion covered 
an area of 1,000 English miles in circumference. 

A member of the Challenger staff, in a lecture deliv- 
ered in London, soon after the termination of an ex- 
pedition of deep sea sounding, gave it as his opinion 
that the great submarine plateau in mid-Atlantic Ocean 
is the remains of the lost Atlantis. 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 157 



OTHER DISTURBANCES SLOWLY OCCUR. 

Now, was such a catastrophe as the sinking of an 
island or a continent possible? Reference to some of 
the facts revealed to us by the study of geology will 
help to answer the question. 

In the first place, the earth's surface is a record of 
successive risings and fallings of the land. For in- 
stance, in the anthracite coal regions of Pennsylvania 
there have been twenty-three different changes of the 
level of the land during the formation of 2,000 feet of 
rock and coal, and these changes took place over areas, 
embracing thousands of square miles. 

Geology says that all the continents that now exist 
were once under water, and for instance, that there can 
be no question that the Australian Archipelago is sim- 
ply the mountain tops of a drowned continent, which 
once reached from India to South America. Science 
has gone so far as to even give it a name; it is called 
Lemuria, and here it is claimed, the human race orig- 
inated. 

LEMURIA, A BURIED CONTINENT. 

Haeckel " Evolution of Man " insists upon Lemuria 
as the cradle of the human race. If Lemuria were 
postulated with a view merely to furnish a possible home 
for primitive mankind, it might at once be rejected. 
But the existence of a buried continent in the region of 
the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean is rendered probable 
by several other lines of inquiry having no reference to 
the origin of man in Lemuria. 

Marine geography teaches the shoal character of the 
waters in the greater part of the Indian Ocean. 1st. 
The distribution of the same species of animals and 
plants on the two sides of the Indian Ocean. 2d. The 
birds of Madagascar and those of the Malay Peninsula 
are of common type. 3d. Again certain species of palm 
trees, which are disseminated with great difficulty by 



158 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

seed and transplanting are common on the other sides 
of the Indian Ocean. Botanists have insisted that this 
distribution could not have been made without a con- 
tinuous land bridge among the countries where this 
species of palm are found. Hence ethnology, philology, 
anthropology, botany, history and tradition all alike 
point to a locality in the Indian Ocean as the former 
existence of a continent now submerged. 

It is a principle of science that that hypothesis which 
explains a given group of phenomena, which contra- 
dicts none of the facts and is consistent with all, passes 
at least tentatively into the theoretical phase of knowl- 
edge. This is at the present day the condition of the 
inquiry with respect to the submerged continents of 
Lemuria and Atlantis. (Ridpath, "Ancient Races.") 

Professor Winchell says (" The Preadamites," page 
437) ' " We are in the midst of great changes, and are 
scarcely conscious of it. We have seen worlds in 
flames, and have felt a comet strike the earth. We have 
seen the whole coast of South America 2 lifted bodily 
ten or fifteen feet in seventy years. . . . Vast transpo- 
sitions have taken place in the coast line of China. The 
ancient capital located in all probability in an accessible 
position near the center of the empire, has now become 
nearly surrounded by water. . . . There was a time 
when the rocky barriers of the Thracian Bosphorus gave 
way and the Black Sea subsided. It has covered a vast 
area in the north and east. Now this area became 
drained, and was known as the ancient Lectoria; it is 
now the prairie region of Russia, and the granary of 
Europe." 

TRADITIONS OF ANCIENT CITIES, NOW LOST. 

Thus these recent (1907) earthquakes bring the stu- 
dent naturally to a study of the traditions of cities long 

2 See also " The Meaning of Evolution," pages 29 to 32, by- 
Samuel Christian Schumaker. "The Structure of the Earth," 
pages 66-67, by T. G. Bonney. 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 159 

since lost, and tradition asserts and archaeology accepts 
the truth of the legend that there is more than one city 
now flourishing in the world which is built on several 
other cities, making thus a city several stories high. 
Delhi is one of them, Allahabad is another. Florence 
is a third. Who can say that there are not cities buried 
beneath the sands of the deserts or the waters of the 
ocean far older than any we now class as ancient? 

There have come down to us traditions of buried 
cities in the great deserts of the world and submerged 
continents with their civilizations. Plato's lost Atlantis 
is one of the latter, and before the appearance of Don- 
nelly's work on Atlantis, " The Antediluvian World," 
the story was regarded as a joke by some and positively 
denied by others. 

The reports of the cruisers Challenger and Dolphin, 
sent out by the Governments of England and of the 
United States, respectively, and the deep sea soundings 
made by them, reveal much to support the statements 
made by geologists and botanists as to the former ex- 
istence of a continent corresponding to Atlantis. 

TRADITIONS OF THE EGYPTIANS. 

The traditions of the Egyptians and some of the na- 
tive tribes of America are rich in allusions to the lost 
Atlantis. America, when discovered, was called At- 
lanta by some native Indian tribes, and to this day they 
celebrate annually the destruction by water of a part 
of the world, and the preservation of one white man. 
Furthermore, on the botanical evidence of Professors 
Unger and Herr, the existence of an Atlantic continent 
during some part of the tertiary period is admitted as 
affording the only plausible explanation that can be 
deduced as to the analogy between the Miocene flora of 
Central Europe and the flora of Eastern America. Al- 
fred Russell Wallace, on the other hand, shows a land 
connection between Europe and America by way of the 
Arctic regions. The route by which the floras of the 



l6o SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

two countries are supposed to have mingled is beset by 
almost insurmountable obstacles, and the connection of 
the two continents must be placed farther south, else 
how account for the appearance' of sub-tropical flora in 
Central Europe if the connection is by the northern 
route ? 

The unnecessary difficulties here incurred, in order to 
avoid the Atlantic continent, are too apparent to escape 
notice. Furthermore, Mr. Wallace admits, as do scien- 
tists in general, that seabeds have been elevated one 
thousand fathoms and islands have risen up from depths 
of three thousand fathoms ; why not look at the reverse 
side of the question and admit the sinking of islands or 
continents, as was the case with Atlantis? 

Geological records show the constant change taking 
place in the contour of the earth — the rising of the 
north coast of Norway nearly 600 feet in the historical 
period and the sinking of other parts as well. The great 
desert of Sahara is known to have been the bottom of a 
sea at one time; mountain plateaus have revealed ex- 
actly the same fact and land which is now thousands of 
feet above the sea level, was at one time thousands of 
feet below. In the light of this, what is there strange 
or improbable in the statement that where now roll the 
expanse of waters of the Atlantic Ocean, there existed 
at one time a large island or continent, traces of which 
,we now discover in the Bermudas, the Azores and Ire- 
land. 

Take the traditions of the Aztecs, in Central America, 
and those of the Egyptians, a vast ocean between them, 
as we now discern the countries, and the similarity as 
to symbolism, customs, etc., lend additional support of 
the Atlantis theory. 

THE LOST ISLAND. 

The question might be asked at the very outset, of 
what use is it to study a subject concerning earthquakes 
and buried continents? In the first place, we cannot 
approach this subject without taking account of facts 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 161 

of lost islands and the people inhabiting them in past 
times, buried cities discovered or unearthed by men of 
our own period, which prepare us for the consideration 
of new facts of the same nature. Furthermore, we 
shall very soon see how much light will be thrown, by 
a study of these facts, upon the Biblical records, espe- 
cially the opening chapters of Genesis. The area of 
human history is thus widened, and we find a satisfac- 
tory explanation of the remarkable resemblances which 
exist between the ancient civilizations found upon the 
opposite shores of the Atlantic Ocean. 

The pivotal point in the study is Atlantis. The story 
of the lost Atlantis was regarded for thousands of years 
as a fable, but this proves nothing. 

One hundred years ago the world knew nothing of 
Pompeii nor of Herculaneum ; nothing of the lingual 
tie which binds together the Indo-European nations ; not 
an idea was conveyed to the world from the vast volume 
of inscriptions upon the tombs and temples of Egypt ; 
nothing was known of the meaning of the arrow-headed 
inscriptions of Babylon, and equally lost to the world, 
at that time, were the ancient and marvelous civiliza- 
tions now revealed in the ruins of Yucatan, Mexico and 
Peru. Who shall say that in one hundred years from 
to-day, the world may not know as much about Atlantis 
as we now do of other ancient civilizations? 

The earliest record of Atlantis has been preserved 
for us by Plato, who lived 400 years before the birth 
of Christ. His ancestor, Solon, was the great law-giver 
of Athens 600 years before the Christian era. Solon 
visited Egypt, and Plutarch tells us his sojourn in Egypt 
lasted ten years. He was a man of extraordinary force 
and penetration of mind, as his laws and his sayings 
attest. He left unfinished a history and description of 
Atlantis, about which he drew his first knowledge from 
Egypt. It is reported that an Egyptian priest said to 
Solon : " You have no antiquity of history, and no his- 
tory of antiquity," and he doubtless realized fully the 
vast importance of a record which carried human history 



162 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

back, thousands of years before even the establishment 
of the kingdom of Egypt; and he was anxious to pre- 
serve for his countrymen this inestimable record of the 
past. 

The record distinctly refers to the Atlantic Ocean and 
an island in it peopled by a powerful nation, and it fur- 
ther refers to the destruction of the island and of the 
degradation of the race. 

FROM SOLON TO PLATO. 

The record handed down from Solon to Plato, and 
from Plato to us, is too long to be introduced in full, 
but the foregoing is an extract of the central fact bear- 
ing upon our subject. 

Now, is such a thing probable? There is nothing in 
the record that renders it improbable; it describes a 
rich, cultivated, educated people. It traces their rise 
from a few emigrants to a prosperous and virtuous 
community and likewise it traces its fall from its high 
estate into selfishness and materiality, then the final de- 
struction by volcanic action of the main island together 
with the escape of some of the inhabitants to the East 
and to the West. 

Many parts of the story can be paralleled by descrip- 
tions of the people in Egypt or Peru ; in fact, in some 
respects the grandeur and wealth of the latter civiliza- 
tions surpass that of Atlantis. 

Prescott, in his " Conquest of Mexico " (Vol. I, page 
95) says: 

" The most renowned of the Peruvian temples, the 
pride of the capital and the wonder of the people . . . 
was literally a mine of gold. On the western wall was 
. . . a representation of the Deity. . . . The figure was 
engraved on a massive plate of gold, of enormous di- 
mensions, thickly powdered with emeralds and precious 
stones. . . . The walls and ceilings were incrusted with 
golden ornaments, every part of the interior glowed 
with burnished plates and studs of precious metals." 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 163 

The geological survey of the remaining portion of 
Atlantis corresponds with the history of the place, as 
shown in the character of the building materials said to 
have been used by the Atlanteans. In the great ditch 
surrounding the whole land of Atlantis like a circle, and,, 
into which four streams flowed down from the moun- 
tains, we see something similar to the four rivers of 
Paradise, and the emblem of the cross surrounded by a 
circle was, from the earliest pre-Christian ages, accepted 
as the emblem of the Garden of Eden. 

One of the temples of Atlantis was dedicated to 
Poseidon, and in it the god himself was represented as 
standing in a chariot. 

Now we know that Plato did not invent the name 
Poseidon, for the worship of him was universal in the 
earliest ages of Europe. Poseidon, or Neptune, is rep- 
resented in Greek mythology as a sea god, but he is 
figured as standing in a war chariot drawn by horses. 
The association of the horse, a land animal, with a sea 
god is inexplicable, except with the light given by Plato. 
Poseidon was a sea god because he ruled over a great 
land in the sea, and was the national god of a maritime 
people ; he is associated with the horse because in At- 
lantis the horse was first domesticated. And as Plato 
shows, the Atlanteans had great race courses for the 
development of speed in horses. Furthermore, we 
know that horses were the favorite objects chosen for 
sacrifice to Poseidon by the nations of antiquity within 
the historical period. The religious horse feasts of the 
pagan Scandinavians were a survival of these Poseidon 
worships, which once prevailed along all the coasts of 
Europe ; they continued until the conversion of the peo- 
ple to Christianity and were then suppressed by the 
church with great difficulty. 

BEYOND THE PILLARS OF HERCULES. 

Other ancient writers also mention islands in the ex- 
terior sea beyond the Pillars of Hercules, and Proclus 



164 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

says " the inhabitants of some of the exterior islands 
preserved from their ancestors a remembrance of At- 
lantis, an extremely large island which for a long time, 
held dominion over all the islands of the Atlantic 
Ocean." Aelian, 400 b. c, tells us of the reported " ex- 
istence of a great continent beyond the Atlantic larger 
than Asia, Europe and Libya together." 

Professor Winchell says ("The Preadamites," page 
380) : " The Gauls possessed traditions upon the sub- 
ject of Atlantis, which were collected by the Roman 
historian, Timagenes, who lived in the first century 
before Christ. He represents that three distinct people 
dwelt in Gaul: (1) The indigenous population, which 
he supposed to be Mongoloids, who had long dwelt 
in Europe; (2) the invaders from a distant land, 
which he understood to be Atlantis; (3) the Aryan 
Gauls." 

Marcellus, in a work on the Ethiopians, speaks of 
seven islands lying in the Atlantic Ocean — probably the 
Canaries — and the inhabitants of these islands, he says, 
preserve the memory of a much greater island, Atlantis, 
which had for a long time exercised dominion over the 
smaller ones. 

Attention may be called to the extraordinary number 
of instances, in which allusion is made in the Old Testa- 
ment to the Islands of the Sea, especially in Isaiah and 
Ezekiel. 

What had an inland people like the Jews to do with 
seas and islands? Did these references grow out of 
vague traditions linking their race with islands in the 
sea? 

Plato states that the Egyptians told Solon that the 
destruction of Atlantis occurred 9,000 years before that 
date, which was 9,600 years before the Christian era. 
This looks like a very long period of time, but it must 
be remembered that geologists claim that the remains 
of man found in the caves of Europe date back 500,000 
and more years ; and a fossil skull was found deep under 
the base of Table Mountain, Cal., the whole mountain 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 165 

having been formed since the man to whom it belonged, 
lived and died. 

M. Oppert read an essay at the Brussels Congress to 
show from the astronomical observations of the 
Egyptians and Assyrians that 11,542 years before our 
era, man existed on the earth at such a stage of civili- 
zation as to be able to take note of astronomical phe- 
nomena and to calculate with accuracy the length of the 
year — the Egyptians calculating zodiacal cycles and 
the Assyrians lunar cycles. The fact that the nations 
of the world remembered so little of Atlantis except 
the colossal fact of its sudden and overwhelming de- 
struction would also seem to remove that event into the 
remote past. 

These are but a few references to the many recorded 
facts of a similar nature, in the light of which who will 
say that the submerging of Atlantis in some great 
world-shaking cataclysm was either impossible or im- 
probable? 

THE DELUGE OF THE BIBLE. 

Add to the foregoing the Deluge of the Bible — a real 
historical fact — which left its impress on the Aryan, 
Semitic and Chaldean races of the ancient world. But 
orthodox, Christian scholars — like Lenormant, Schoe- 
bel and D'Halloy — deny the universality of the Deluge, 
as to the whole earth being covered by water, but they 
do claim that the impress on the minds of the ancient 
races of such a cataclysm was universal. The Egyp- 
tians, who possessed a memory of many partial deluges, 
regarded the destruction of Atlantis as the greatest of 
them all ; furthermore, scholars now concede that the 
genealogical table given in Genesis x is not intended to 
include the true negro races, nor the Chinese, Japanese, 
Finns or Lapps, the Australians nor the American red 
men. It refers altogether to the Mediterranean races, 
the Aryans, the Sushites, the Phoenicians, the Hebrews 
and the Egyptians. 

If these races (the Chinese, Australians, Americans, 



166 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

etc.) are not descended from Noah, they could not have 
been included in the Deluge. If neither China, Japan, 
America, Northern Europe nor Australia were depop- 
ulated by the Deluge, the Deluge itself could not have 
been universal. But as it is alleged that it did destroy a 
country and drowned all the people thereof, except Noah 
and his family, the country so destroyed could not have 
been Europe, Asia, Africa, America nor Australia, for 
there has been no universal destruction of the people of 
these regions ; or, if there had been how can we account 
for the existence to-day of a people on all of these conti- 
nents whose descent Genesis does not trace back to Noah, 
and in fact about whom the writer of Genesis seems to 
have known nothing? 

We are thus driven to one of two alternative con- 
clusions; either the Deluge record of the Bible is alto- 
gether fabulous, or it relates to some land other than 
Europe, Asia, Africa, America or Australia; some land 
that was destroyed and buried under water. It is not 
fabulous, and the land it refers to is not Europe, Asia, 
etc., but Atlantis. No other land is known to history 
or tradition that was overthrown in a great catastrophe 
by the agency of water which was civilized, populous, 
powerful, and given over to wickedness. 

That high and orthodox authority, Frangois Lenor- 
mant, says (" Ancient History of the East " Vol I, 
page 64) : " The descendants of Shem, Ham and Japheth, 
so admirably catalogued by Moses, includes only one of 
the races of humanity, the white race. The other three 
races — yellow, black and red — have no place in the 
Bible list of nations sprung from Noah, it (the Flood) 
could not have itself been universal." 

The Deluge stories of India, of Greece, of Wales, of 
the Mexicans and American Indians, all support the 
Atlantis theory and to them we refer those interested in 
further pursuing this part of the subject. 

Egypt does not contain a single allusion to the Flood, 
because the people had preserved in their annals the 
precise history of the destruction of Atlantis, out of 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 167 

which the Flood legends grew, and as they told the 
Greeks, there had been no universal deluge covering 
the mountain tops of the world. They had no Mt. 
Ararat in their neighborhood. 

But not alone, is the ocean the storehouse of buried 
cities containing the evidence of ancient races and their 
high attainments in all that pertains to civilization. The 
great sandy deserts and almost impenetrable forests of 
the world speak volumes for prehistoric man, and a 
study of the lost civilization, buried in desert and forest, 
will likewise show the attainments of the ancients in the 
arts and sciences, that we may appreciate the immense 
period of time that man has existed on this earth. 
Such a study is the link which leads us to a knowledge 
of the relation of widely separated districts to each 
other — widely separated as we view the earth's sur- 
face to-day. By tracing similarity of design, workman- 
ship and symbolism, in the few remains of these ancient 
monuments, and we are led again to buried or sub- 
merged continents. 

In North Central Asia there is an immense and howl- 
ing waste of shifting sand, known to us as the Great 
Desert of Gobi, and if report speaks correctly, the seat 
of one of the richest empires the world ever saw. Be- 
neath the surface is said to lie such wealth in gold, jew- 
els, statuary, arms, utensils and all that indicates civi- 
lization, luxury and fine arts as no existing capital of 
Christendom can show to-day. The Gobi sand moves 
regularly from east to west before terrible gales that 
blow continually. Occasionally some of the hidden 
treasures are uncovered, but not a native dare touch 
them, for the district is under the ban of a mighty spell. 
The howling whirlwind, with its accompanying clouds 
of sand, guards the hidden treasures of this historic 
period, awaiting the day when the revolution of cylic 
periods shall again allow their story to be known for 
the instruction of mankind. 

Vambery in his " Travels in Central Asia," describes 
very important ruins near the Gobi regions — and he 



168 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

speaks of "the almost buried remains of a great wall 
which he was able to follow for some ten miles. He 
found a vast aqueduct 150 miles long, and he reports 
abundant ruins in all that country he was able to trav- 
erse, extending even to China." 

But the time will come sooner or later when the dread- 
ful sand of the desert will yield up its long buried secrets 
and then there will be unlooked for mortification to our 
modern intellectual vanity. 



SPIRITUAL PROGRESS — AN EGYPTIAN 
SYMBOL » 

THE cone upon the head of the defunct, as repre- 
sented in some of the illustrations in the Book 
of the Dead, attracted my attention in a study 
of Egyptian religions from the standpoint of symbolism. 

The significance of the cone is not known, says Budge, 
although some writers have considered it to be simply 
a form of head dress. The deep spiritual significance 
of the Egyptian teachings, together with the symbolic 
or hieroglyphic method of transmitting their knowledge 
to posterity, led me to consider this " cone " as also con- 
veying some idea worth the effort of an attempt at in- 
terpreting its meaning. 

To secure the perspective necessary to the view to 
be disclosed, one must abandon the idea that the ancient 
Egyptians were animal worshipers, and come to view 
with Budge, Spineto, Renouf, and others, the mono- 
theism of this ancient race. 

Iamblichus says regarding this : " Before the things 
that really are, even the first principles of all things, is 
One Divine Being; prior even to the first God and King, 
abiding immovable in the aloneness of his own absolute 
unity. For neither is Intelligence nor any principle else 
intermingled with him, but he is established an exemplar 
of the God self-begotten, self-produced and only begot- 
ten, the One truly God." 2 

With so lofty a conception of God, we are prepared 
for a noble conception of man. 

Lactantius says, " From the two natures, the deathless 

1 Records of the Past, March-April, 1912. 

2 " The Egyptian Mysteries." By Iamblichus. Translated by 
Alexander Wilder, p. 252, 

169 



170 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

and mortal, He made one nature — that of man — one 
and the self-same thing; and having made the self-same 
(man) both somehow deathless and somehow mortal, 
He brought him forth, and set him up betwixt the god- 
like and immortal nature and the mortal, that seeing 
all he might wonder at all." 3 

With a lofty conception of God, and with the idea of 
immortality or a " deathless " part of man, we are pre- 
pared to look at the ancient Egyptian moral code, and 
learn of " The Way to Deathlessness." 

" Right was thy thought, O thou ! But how doth ' he 
who knows himself, go unto Him/ as God's Word 
(Logos) hath declared? 

" And I reply : the Father of the universals doth con- 
sist of Light and Life, and from him, man was born. 

" Thou sayest well, (thus) speaking. Light and Life 
is Father-God — and from Him man was born. 

" If then thou learnest that thou art thyself of Life 
and Light, and that thou (only) happen'st to be out of 
them, thou shalt return again to Life. Thus did Man- 
Shepherd (Poemandres or Pymander) speak. 

" But tell me further, Mind (spark of Divinity) of 
me, I cried, How shall I come to Life again . . . for 
God doth say : ' The man who hath Mind in him, let 
him learn to know that he himself (is deathless)/" 4 

The " Way of Deathlessness " is the path of self- 
knowledge. The disciple or initiate (symbolized by the 
defunct in the Egyptian Judgment Scenes) cannot be- 
lieve it is for him, he cannot quite understand that Mind 
(the Divine Spark, i.e., the Individual Intelligence) is 
in him, or rather is himself. The disciple may believe 
but he does not know. 

Here comes in the moral code such as may be gleaned 
from a study of Chapter CXXV Book of the Dead. 
The Knowledge necessary to the initiate must be pre- 
ceded by moral purification. The whole nature must 

3 "Thrice Greatest Hermes." By G. R. S. Mead, Vol. Ill, p. 

245. 
* " Thrice Greatest Hermes." By G. R. S. Mead, Vol. II, p. 13. 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 171 

be changed. In other words the development of the 
spiritual faculties and powers depends upon morality, and 
a life based upon Nature's laws. Such a life, it was 
taught, would lead to the natural evolvement of the 
spiritual part of man's nature; and the symbol, that the 
spiritual faculties and powers had been developed by 
the defunct, is the cone on top of the head of the as- 
pirant for spiritual life before the throne of Osiris. 

The " glad tidings " seem to have been the heritage 
of those who " lived the life to know the doctrine " in 
all ages. 

The curled hair on top of the head of the yogees of 
the far East, Buddha for instance, indicates " the hid- 
den fountain issuing from a concealed brain " or in 
other words to a highly developed spiritual nature. 
Sometimes the symbol is a dot in the center of the fore- 
head. 

Now this again refers to the so-called " third eye," 
not an anatomical eye in the center of the forehead ; 
but the " inner eye " or a focal point in the brain toward 
which the physical vibrations may .be directed by the 
will of the " disciple on the path," thus enabling him to 
harmonize or unify all the vibrations or demands of the 
body, and to persist in the living of the life, that he 
may gain a greater knowledge of spiritual matters, in 
order to render a greater service to humanity. 

This is the law of spiritual progress. This is briefly 
one interpretation of the cone on the head ; the top knot 
on the head of the yogees ; and the meaning of the inner 
eye. 



THE SON OF MAN AND THE SON OF GOD 

THIS essay is not written for the purpose of as- 
sailing any man's religion; criticising any man's 
life, be he churchman, materialist, spiritualist or 
atheist; nor provoking useless argument about religion. 

It is written to foster individual thought along the 
lines herein inadequately elaborated and for the purpose 
of encouraging the few to persevere in " living the life " 
as the only way " to know the doctrine." This method 
involves an individual experience, and experience is the 
basis of all knowledge. 

Reference to ancient religions having the elements 
from Incarnation to Assumption, the same as in the 
Christian religion, are not offered as an argument against 
Christianity in any way. 1 Such references are used that 
we may broaden our view and come to a better under- 
standing of the Christian religion; to emphasize the ne- 
cessity for taking more careful note of what Christ him- 
self said, and to recall to mind the fact that he took 
great pains to continually divert attention from himself. 
At all times he directed thought to the transcendent 
teaching, that death does not end all, and that His life 
was the demonstration, i.e., " The Way " to consciously 
overcome death and to know the reality of the Spiritual 
World in a just and lawful manner. He laid down no 
creeds or dogmas and founded no church or religious 
hierarchy. 

Heresy trials are growing in frequency. They mark 
the departure of honest doubters and real thinkers from 
the ranks of old and outgrown Creeds, to the ranks of 
those who love truth for its own sake. 

1 The Virgin Birth in 17&5 b. c. Sharpe's " History of 
Egypt," Figure 61, page 68. 

172 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 173 



THE ORTHODOX AND NON-ORTHODOX POSITION. 

Every individual of ordinary intelligence has some 
idea, as to what the phrases " Son of Man," and " Son 
of God," mean. The heretical view is strongly put by 
Rev. George Clark Cox (Calvary Episcopal Church, 
Clifton, Cincinnati), in his frank avowal " I do not deny 
the Immaculate Conception, but I cannot believe it." 

The Christian Orthodox position as expressed by Dean 
Mathews in discussing Mr. Cox's views is thus tersely 
stated : " If Christ was not God, he was the worst im- 
postor that ever lived." Rev. Mr. Cox makes of Christ 
a human being when he was born, and gradually at 
Baptism and Crucifixion he absorbs into himself the Di- 
vinity. By such a process anyone may become Divine 
and the Son of God. 

But such a process is a great encouragement to " Live 
the Life to know the Doctrine," and is exactly the mis- 
sion of Christ, to show the way by which one may become 
Divine and a Son of God. The " Way of the Cross " 
is thus made possible to those who have been bewildered 
by much preaching and little practice, on the part of 
those who should know and be able to demonstrate: 
u The works that I do shall he do also that believeth in 
me; and greater works than these shall he do," — John 
xiv, 12. " Do all things without murmuring or disput- 
ing, that ye may be blameless and harmless, the Sons 
of God, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, 
among whom ye shine as lights in the world." — Phil- 
lipians ii, 14-15. 

So the promise that others may become " Sons of 
God," who are undoubtedly ordinary human beings, 
need not shock the theologians to such an extent that 
they are ready to concede the battle lost, because they 
have asserted that it can only be won " on the claim of 
Christ himself to be the son of God and the Saviour of 
mankind." 2 

2 Rev. W. Robertson Nicoll, " The Church's One Foundation," 
p. 12. 



174 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 



EARLY CHRISTIANS A SECRET COMMUNITY. 

Were Christianity not composed of " secret communi- 
ties," from the start; and were it not for the fact, that 
Jesus himself did not appear on the scene until a few 
years before his death, history would have more facts 
to record of its founder and disciples than it has. 

How little Jesus impressed his personality upon his 
own century, is calculated to astound the inquirer. 
Renan shows that Philo, who died toward the year 50, 
and who was born many years earlier than Jesus, liv- 
ing all the while in Palestine while the " glad tidings " 
were being preached all over the country, according to 
the Gospels, had never heard of him ! Josephus, the 
historian, who was born three or four years after the 
death of Jesus, mentions his execution in a short sen- 
tence, and even these few words were altered "by a 
Christian hand." 

Josephus, writing at the close of the first century, 
when Paul, the learned propagandist, is said to have 
founded so many churches, and Peter is alleged to have 
established the apostolic succession, which the Irenaeo 
Eusebian chronology shows to have already included 
three bishops of Rome (Lines, Cletus Anacletus, and 
Clement), Josephus, the painstaking enumerator and 
careful historian of even the most unimportant sects, 
entirely ignores the existence of a Christian sect. 

Renan in his " Life of Jesus " expresses the opinion 
that the passage, respecting Jesus, in Josephus is au- 
thentic. He says : " It is perfectly in the style of Jo- 
sephus; and if this historian had made mention of Jesus, 
it is thus that he must have spoken of him." 

WHO INTERPOLATED THE JOSEPHUS RECORD? 

The whole paragraph is as follows : " At this time 
was Iasous, a wise man " (wise man always meant with 
the Ancient Hebrews, a Kabalist) "if at least it is right 
to call him a man ( !) for he was a doec of surprising 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 175 

works, and a teacher of such men as receive ' the 
truths ' with pleasure. . . . This was the Anointed ( ! !) 
and on an accusation by the first men among us having 
been condemned by Pilate to the cross, they did not stop 
loving him who loved them. For he appeared to them 
on the third day alive, and the divine prophets having 
said these and many other wonderful things concern- 
ing him." 

History shows us Josephus as a most uncompromis- 
ing Jew, and the Jewish Messiah was then and still is 
expected ; yet Josephus is made to admit that the " first 
men among the Jews " had crucified their own Messiah 
and " Anointed One." This is why this statement about 
Jesus is considered spurious by eminent Christian stu- 
dents. 3 

Renan dogmatically asserts that Jesus ignored the very 
name of Buddha, of Zoroaster, and of Plato ; " that he 
never read a Greek nor a Buddhistic book, although he 
had more than one element in him, which unawares to 
himself, proceeded from Buddhism, Parseeism and the 
Greek wisdom." 

This seems half miracle and half chance. Any com- 
piler of legends concerning the problematical history of 
the Nazarene has as firm ground to stand upon as does 
Renan. Nor can anyone else assert a claim to the con- 
trary except on inferential evidence. Now then, while 
Renan has not one solitary fact to show that Jesus had 
never studied the metaphysical tenets of Buddhism and 
Parseeism, or heard of the philosophy of Plato, his 
(Renan's) opponents have the best reasons in the world 
to suspect the contrary. Because they find, 1st. That 
all of Jesus' sayings are in a Pythagorean spirit when 
not verbatim repetitions ; 2d, His code of Ethics is purely 
Buddhistic ; 3d, His mode of action and walk in life, 
Essenean ; and 4th, His mystical mode of expression, His 
parables, and His ways, are those of an Initiate, whether 
Grecian, Chaldean, or Magian (for the "Perfect," who 

s Helena P. Blavatsky's " Isis Unveiled," Vol. II, p. 328. 



176 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

spoke a hidden wisdom were of the same school of ar- 
chaic learning the world over) thus it is difficult to es- 
cape from the logical conclusion that he belonged to that 
same body of Initiates. 

m'connell's essays on 

It "will be conceded that an Episcopalian minister, one 
who has thought long and deeply, is not only entitled to 
express an opinion on the central theme of religion, but 
when he issues a publication, a book, upon the central 
theme of the Christian religion, in which he takes issue 
with the long established and accepted interpretation, 
he should be given a candid hearing. 

S. D. M'Connell, Rector of All Souls' Church, New 
York City, in the spring of 1904 came into the right of 
such consideration and candid hearing, through the pub- 
lication of his thoughtful series of essays entitled 
" Christ." 

I have made copious extracts from two chapters of 
his book, because his views in those chapters closely 
coincide with my own. And I recommend Chapters III 
and IV in McConnell's " Christ " to be read as a com- 
mentary to Chapters IV, XII, XXII and XXVI of an- 
other book called " The Great Work," and I do this in 
the spirit of one student, who has received that which 
he thinks is Light, to other students traveling on the 
rough and rugged road in search of knowledge and 
truth. 

THE ATONEMENT FAILING TO INFLUENCE HUMANITY. 

" Endless labor has been expended to remove the in- 
tellectual obstacles in the way of a full acceptance of 
the Atonement. It is time to remind ourselves that the 
real difficulties are moral ones. Not unworthy Chris- 
tians alone, but an unworthy Christ is the stumbling- 
block. It is the bald fact that the dogma of the propiti- 
atory sacrifice of Christ, which has for so long been 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 177 

exhibited as the central truth of Christianity, is now 
rejected by a society whose moral sense has outgrown 
it. The whole scheme of which it forms the logical 
basis is felt to be immoral as well as untrue. . . . 

11 The average man of to-day does not believe that 
human nature is but the moral wreck and debris of an 
Edenic man. . . . 

" He will not believe that a course of action which 
would be wrong for man can be right for God. He 
believes that justice and equity are the same things for 
God that they are for man. The human idea of justice 
demands that the penalty shall fall upon the person 
who offends, and not upon someone in his stead, even 
though the King furnish the victim and the substitute 
be ever so willing. 

u In popular speech the essential content of the dogma 
is expressed by the word * Redemption.' The word 
means to ' buy off,' or to ' buy back.' It is a commercial 
term. 

11 We come back to the question of how to account 
for the existence and persistence of a presentation of 
Christ which the moral sense rejects. I have said that 
it is only too easy to account for, and so it is, so far as 
concerns the historic law which controls in such cases. 
As in commerce a debased currency always tends to 
drive a precious one out of circulation, so in religion 
and philosophy a low conception can hold the field long 
against a noble one. This is what has occurred in the 
Christian Kingdom. But this brings us to the place 
where we should discover when, and where, and how, 
the spiritual currency, of Christ became debased ; when 
and how his coin came to have stamped on one side a 
sacrificial bull, and on the other a mitred priest. To be- 
gin with, let us ask the plain question: Did Jesus him- 
self conceive of himself as a propitiatory sacrifice, and 
of his work as an expiation? The only answer possible 
is, clearly he did not. . . . He does not call himself the 
world's Priest, or the world's Victim. That he expected 
and intended to suffer and die is plain enough. He 



178 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

dwelt upon the fact to his friends' consternation. But 
he nowhere placed upon his suffering and death, the in- 
terpretation which it afterward came to bear. In all 
his sayings which have been preserved, he gives the 
clear impression that he took his pain and privation and 
death as being ' in the day's work/ incidental and un- 
avoidable necessities of the task which he had under- 
taken, but not as the task itself. They were the price 
which he had to pay for being what he was. But there 
is no intimation that he attributed to them any sacrificial 
or propitiatory value." 

THERE ARE ONLY TWO STATEMENTS OF CHRIST REGARDING 
REDEMPTION. 4 

" To the above statement there are just two excep- 
tions. What we have to say about them may best be 
introduced by showing them in their context. They are 
these : — 

" * Then came to him the mother of Zebedee's chil- 
dren with her sons, worshiping, and desiring a certain 
thing of him. And he said unto her, ' What wilt thou ? ' 
She saith unto him, ' Grant that these my two sons may 
sit, the one on thy right hand and the other on thy left, 
in thy kingdom/ But Jesus answered and said unto 
her, ' Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink 
of the cup that I shall drink of, or be baptized with the 
baptism that I am baptized with ? ' They say unto him, 
' We are able/ And he saith unto them, ' Ye shall drink 
indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that 
I am baptized with: but to sit on my right hand, and 
on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to 
them for whom it is prepared of my Father. Ye know 
that the princes of the gentiles exercise dominion over 
them, and they that are great exercise authority upon 
them. But it shall not be so among you; but whoso- 
ever will be great among you, let him be your minister 

4 See also " The Christology of Jesus," by Rev. James Stalker, 
P. 177. 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 179 

and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your 
servant ; even as the Son of Man came not to be min- 
istered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ran- 
som for many/ " 

u And as they were eating Jesus took bread, and 
blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and 
said, ' Take, eat : this is my body.' And he took the cup, 
and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, * Drink 
ye all of it ; for this is my blood of the new testament, 
which is shed for many for the remission of sins'" 

" The significant phrases are those in italics, ' to give 
his life a ransom for many' and, ' shed for many for the 
remission of sins' (Matt, xx and xxvi). Now, let it 
be well kept in mind that these are the only two sayings 
attributed to Christ himself which give any color to the 
contention that he regarded himself in the light of a 
propitiatory sacrifice. And let it be further borne in 
mind, that they are not only foreign to, but directly op- 
posed to the whole tenor of his teaching. The ques- 
tion then naturally arises, where and when, and upon 
whose authority are the words placed in his mouth? If 
it should appear that they are in perfect accord with 
a conception which appears later in the New Testament, 
and that they cannot be made to agree with the teaching 
of Christ, what then? Only this: we will be obliged 
to confront the fact that there is to be found within the 
writings of the New Testament a theory concerning the 
meaning of Christ's work which his own words con- 
demn." 



THE GOSPELS NOT WRITTEN UNTIL AFTER THE DEATH OF 

CHRIST. 

" It must not be forgotten that the Gospels are tradi- 
tions committed to writing. The earliest written was 
at least thirty-five years afer the death of Christ. Mean- 
time his sayings had been kept alive in memory and 
passed on from mouth to ear. Thirty-five years is a 
good while, more than a generation. If during that 



i8o SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

time a theory concerning the Master's life and work had 
gained currency, it is only to be expected that it would 
show its influence in shaping the tradition. That such 
a theory did become elaborated within that period we 
shall see. But we shall also see that it did not come 
to prevail in such a way as to shape the common thought 
and speech of Christians until a much later date. It 
seems therefore more reasonable to believe that the two 
phrases which convey the ideas of ' ransom ' and pro- 
pitiatory ' remission ' are placed in our Lord's mouth by 
a later tradition, than that they were used by him, and 
intended to present a conception of himself which is 
irreconcilable with his own plain words. 

INFALLIBILITY. 

" Of course it will be evident that this way of look- 
ing at things disregards the dogma of plenary and in- 
fallible ' inspiration ' of Holy Scripture. I do not pause 
to controvert or even to state that dogma. To all use- 
ful purposes it has been abandoned by Christian 
thought. Effectively for English speaking people it was 
dislodged from its last entrenchment by the making and 
promulgation of the ' Revised Version.' Not that this 
was the intention of the revisers, but it was nevertheless 
the result. The Revised Version is in many ways and 
places different from the one current before it. If that 
one has had mistakes, established against it, no one can 
maintain that the present one is final. When that fact 
once got lodgment in the common mind the dogma of 
infallible inspiration became thereafter impossible. 



JESUS BECOMES OF INTEREST ONLY AFTER THE RESUR- 
RECTION. 

" The life of Jesus does become of absorbing inter- 
est and prime importance, but only in its proper order. 
Not until the world's interest was engaged with the 
risen Christ did it even try to remember, much less re- 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 181 

cord, the story of his life. It was the news of the 
Resurrection which arrested attention. The belief in it 
has, in sober verity, wrought the most momentous result 
within human history. . . . 

" There are two paths generally open to the great and 
sympathetic soul touched by the world's wrong. One 
is to teach righteousness, the other is to organize right- 
eousness ; to be either a preacher or a reformer. Jesus 
chose neither. He added little or nothing to the world's 
stock of theoretical morality. Probably all of his no- 
blest sayings may be matched from Socrates or Moses, 
from Seneca or Gautama. ^The great company of 
preachers has served the world well, but Jesus is not 
among them. No more did he conceive his task to be 
to reform society. God knows, the social, political and 
economic order amidst which he lived was rotten enough. 
It was a drunken, lustful, cruel and unjust world. The 
field for a reformer was ripe to the harvest. 

CAN A MAN OVERCOME DEATH? — CHRIST'S THEME. 

" His theme was not the happiness or the misery of 
two contrasted kinds of future existence, but existence 
itself. Can a man in any wise overcome death, and if 
so, how? Of course, such an inquiry must lead one at 
times to a point where the quality of the new existence 
comes into view, but this never engages his atten- 
tion long, and is always subordinated to the main 
theme. 

" He pronounces at the outset that the thing is pos- 
sible, but difficult. He introduces it under the cate- 
gory of a ' Kingdom.' But the moment that word is 
pronounced, we have to be on our guard lest we miss 
its meaning. He uses the term habitually in its bio- 
logical, and not in its political sense. In other connec- 
tions we are familiar with that use. We speak of the 
Mineral Kingdom, the Vegetable Kingdom, the Animal 
Kingdom. In no other sense does he use the word for 
his New Kingdom. 



182 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 



THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. 



" It is a scientific classification. Had naturalists and 
scientific men, instead of metaphysicians and jurists, for- 
mulated Christian theology, the world would have been 
spared an incalculable confusion. For in very truth, it 
is the naturalist's legitimate field. But ages ago the 
truth of Christ was interpreted in terms of law, instead 
of biology. The result has been that the very words 
of the Master have had fixed upon them an unnatural 
meaning from which it will be long before they recover. 
But his language is more intelligible to-day than it has 
been at any time in the past. In the great cycle of hu- 
man thought, modern science has brought into common 
use the mental forms into which his words fit. 

" But there the words stand, and they are plain enough 
to him who scans them with an open mind. His Gospel 
is the Gospel of the Kingdom, that is, the New Order 
of Existence, the New Man. Those who find their way 
into the New Kingdom, live because life is the law of 
that Kingdom ; those who fail or neglect to do so much 
are left where they belong, under the old, brutal neces- 
sity of perishing. He points out what the condition of 
entrance into the New Kingdom is. It is by transforma- 
tion — transmutation rather — of the life which the in- 
dividual shares with the form next below. ' Except ye 
be born again ye cannot enter into the Kingdom of God/ 
This ' being born again ' is, to his view, not so much a 
metaphor as a scientific statement. Birth is a curious 
thing; it is an epoch in the progress of an individual 
life. It is not the beginning of it. The subject of it 
has reached the end of a stage of development before he 
can be born. Birth is only the entrance upon a new 
phase. Jesus does not present the new birth as the be- 
ginning of a soul, but as a radical change in its rela- 
tionship. 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 183 



THE OPEN SECRET. 

". . . This is the open secret of Christ. Eternal life 
i^ a stage of evolution, difficult, but possible. The in- 
dividual is mortal ; but he may reach to immortality for 
himself, if he follow the law for that case made and pro- 
vided. This process he calls the ' Way of Life.' To ex- 
hibit the proof of all this would be to quote substantially 
the larger part of the New Testament. It is sufficient 
to warrant the confident assertion that this conception 
dominates and coordinates his whole teaching. It all 
revolves about the new life of the individual man. 

" It widens out into the thought of a society composed 
of such twice-born souls. It contemplates the action 
and interaction between such a society, and the natural 
world. It anticipates the ultimate dominion* of such a 
society, and the ultimate decay of all things and per- 
sons as cannot be wrought over to its uses. It is the 
Novum Organon for the universe of Man. All his say- 
ings, arguments, parables, aphorisms, metaphors, are 
dominated by this controlling principle. His imagery 
is drawn almost exclusively from the processes and phe- 
nomena of life. " God so loved the world that he gave 
his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth on him 
should not perish, but have aeonian life.' ... * That 
which is born of the flesh is flesh ; that which is born of 
the spirit is spirit. Do not be surprised, therefore, when 
I say unto you that except man be born again he cannot 
see the Kingdom of Heaven.' . . . 

" The spiritual life follows the natural, both in order 
and method. ' For as the Father quickeneth dead mat- 
ter into living form, so the Son quickeneth whom he 
will.' . . . " He that hearkeneth unto my word and hath 
confidence in Him that sent me, hath Ionian life in him- 
self, and moves not to destruction, but hath passed from 
the dead into the living.' . . . * I declare unto you that 
if a man keep my saying he shall never see death.' . . . 
' Leave the dead to bury their dead, and come fol- 
low me.' 



184 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 



" His own conception of his mission is therefore un- 
mistakable. It was to open up the Kingdom of Life to 
the individual fit to enter into it. His teaching was 
the theory; His life was the demonstration. . . . 

" He begins by calling himself the ' Son of Man/ For 
what purpose could he use that phrase other than to 
identify himself absolutely with human nature? His 
emphasis here was not superfluous, as time has shown. 
His project was to put human nature, in his own per- 
son, to the experimentum cruets. He was exploiting the 
capabilities of man to the uttermost, and it must be made 
clear that the experiment was being made with human 
nature in its actuality. 

" For the man, most man, works best for man, 
Like God at Nazareth. 

" The title which he assumed for himself cannot be 
regarded as a fanciful one, nor was it one which ex- 
pressed his affectionate sympathy with man's mortal 
condition. It was because the force of his experiment 
with human living would be broken if it failed to show 
itself a really human experiment. He called himself the 
Son of Man because he wished no mistake to be made 
about the matter. If his way should prove successful 
for himself and reach its goal, it must be made plain 
that the path was open for any man to follow after him. 
That would be impossible unless it were in the deepest 
sense natural. 

the living of a life. 

" With this principle in mind we are prepared to fol- 
low the career of the Son of Man understandingly. We 
encounter him first as a man among men; a man who 
lived at a certain place; at a certain date; a man with 
senses, faculties, emotions, as other men; a man who 
had been a babe, a youth, a young man, and had grown 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 185 

in stature, and in favor with God and man. In the full 
possession of his human faculties, sanely, soberly, de- 
liberately he chose the ' Way of Life ' which he believed 
would save even his life from ultimate defeat by death, 
and would also lay open a path accessible anywhere to 
mortal feet. He chose that path not arbitrarily, but 
because it is the one to which the ideal of humanity 
pointed. He counted the cost, and paid it because it 
was worth it. The cost was very great, but the com- 
pensation was immeasurable. It consisted essentially, in 
opening wide that side of human nature which looks 
toward God and good, and resolutely closing the side 
which gives toward selfishness and sin. This kind of 
life could only be lived, in the nature of the case, in the 
midst of what we call circumstances, for a human life 
consists not alone of actions, but of reactions as well. 
A holy life cannot be lived apart. ' The stern but brac- 
ing discipline of living ' is defeated unless the soul be 
exposed to the facts of life. 

THE VINDICATION. 

" Only one thing could vindicate the choice of Jesus ; 
that was to pass alive through death. But emerging 
thus triumphant, he claims it to be vindication of po- 
tential humanity. It also is compassed within the career 
of the Son of Man. He did not pass out of the 
category of humanity even in his ultimate experi- 
ence." 



MORE MIS-INTERPRETATIONS. 

Another stumbling block is the sentence : " My God ! 
My God! why hast thou forsaken me." That it is 
doubtful if Jesus ever uttered the words refer to John 
xvii, 1, where we read, " And Jesus lifted up his eyes to 
heaven and said. Father, the hour is come, glorify thy 
Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee." . . . 

Any further doubt is dispelled when we read: 



186 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

" My God — My God — how thou dost glorify me ! " 5 
as the correct rendering of the Hebrew words : " Eli, 
Eli, lamah azabothani " in the first verse of the Twenty- 
second Psalm. To which the Revised Version refers us 
in order to corroborate the rendering of Matthew xxvii, 

The only thing that can be said is that none of the 
Hebrew and Greek scholars, purporting to correct the 
blunders of their less learned predecessors in Bible trans- 
lation, saw the glaring difference between the Hebrew 
words in Psalm xxii, Azabothani and Sabacthani in Mat- 
thew xxvii. 

Here again the early Church Fathers also came into 
conflict and they did not wish to render a true inter- 
pretation of the words said to have been uttered by 
Jesus on the Cross. Because it would involve a recog- 
nition and approval of certain revealed secrets of the 
mysteries. To render it correctly, would class Jesus 
with the initiates, and the few dominating Church 
Fathers did not wish ever so little to encourage the still 
living hierophants of the mysteries by correctly inter- 
preting anything. 

The words " My God ! My Sun ! thou hast poured thy 
radiance upon me," were the final words that concluded 
the thanksgiving prayer of the initiate. 

In Egypt we find to this day carvings and paintings 
that represent this rite. The candidate is between two 
Divine sponsors ; one Horus — Sun with the head of a 
hawk, representing life; the other Thoth — the Ibis 
headed, who guides the soul after death, representing 
death of the physical body. Both are shown pouring 
the radiant " stream of life " or water of purification, 
on the head of the initiate, the two streams interlacing 
and form a cross. 

This basso-relievo has been explained as a " pagan 
presentiment of a Christian truth." 

This brings us face to face with the proposition 

8 " Source of Measures," by J. Ralston Skinner, pages vii, 301. 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 187 



CHRISTIANITY NOT FALSE BUT FALSIFIED. 

The failure to interpret the mystical Scriptures by 
the mystical rule, was due to the loss, by the Church, 
of the mystical faculty of inner, spiritual vision, through 
which they were written. Passing under a domination 
exclusively sacerdotal and traditional, and losing thereby 
the intuition of things spiritual, the Church fell an easy 
prey to that which is the besetting sin of priesthoods, 
Idolatry ; and in place of the simple, true, reasonable 
Gospel (to illustrate which, the history of Jesus had 
been expressly designed) fabricated the stupendous and 
irrational superstition which has usurped his name. 
Converted by the exaltation of the letter and the sym- 
bol, in place of the Spirit and the signification, into an 
idolatry every whit as gross as any that preceded it, 
Christianity has failed to redeem the world. Chris- 
tianity has failed, that is, not because it was false, but 
because it has been falsified. And the falsification, gen- 
erally, has consisted in removing the character described 
under the name of Jesus, from its true function as the 
portrait of that of which every man has in him the po- 
tentiality, and referring it exclusively to an imaginary 
order of being between whom and man there could be 
no possible relation, even were such a being himself pos- 
sible. Instead of recognizing the Gospels as a written 
hieroglyph, setting forth, under terms derived from nat- 
ural objects and persons, processes which are purely 
spiritual and impersonal, the Churches have — one and 
all — fallen into that lowest mode of fetish-worship, 
which consists in the adoration of a mere symbol, en- 
tirely irrespective of its true import. To the complaint 
that will inevitably be made against this exposition of the 
real nature of the Gospel history, that it has ' taken away 
the Lord ' the reply is no less satisfactory than obvious. 
For he has been taken away only from the place wherein 
so long the Church had kept him, that is, the sepulcher. 6 

6 " The Perfect Way," by Edward Mailland and Anna Kings- 
ford, page 224. 



i88 



SYMBOLIC TEACHING 



But since the Light of the World has shone in this 
dark place, men need no longer grope or feel with hesi- 
tating fingers for some path by which to elude the an- 
cient Destroyer, for " Death is swallowed up in victory " 
by the Son of Man, and by those who " live the life." 



PART II 

HE WHO KNOWS ONLY ONE RELIGION, KNOWS NONE. 

The following comparisons of sacred teachings, Chris- 
tian and pre-Christian are concrete illustrations of Prof. 
Max Miiller's admonition, " He who knows only one 
Religion, knows none." 



Sentences from Sextus the 
Pythagorean, and other So- 
called Heathen. 

I. Possess not treasures, but 
those things which no one can 
take from you. 



2. You have yourself, some- 
thing similar to God, and there- 
fore use yourself as the temple 
of God. 

3. What I do not wish men 
to do to me I also wish not to 
do to them. (Annalects of 
Confucius, page 76; see Max 
Muller's " The Works of Con- 
fucius.") "Hurt not others 
with that which pains yourself." 
Buddha. 

4. The moon shines even in 
the house of the wicked. 
(Manu.) 



5. Purity of mind alone sees 
God. (Ibid.) 



Verses from the New Testa- 
ment. 



1. Lay not up for yourself 
treasures upon earth, where 
moth doth corrupt, and where 
thieves break through and steal. 
(Matthew vi, 19.) 

2. Know ye not ye are the 
temple of God and that the 
spirit of God dwelleth in you. 
(I Corinthians iii, 16.) 

3. Do ye unto others as ye 
would that others should do to 
you. 



4. He maketh his sun to rise 
on the evil and on the good, 
and sendeth rain on the just 
and on the unjust. (Matt, v, 
45.) 

5. Blessed are the pure in 
heart, for they shall see God. 
(Matt, v, 8.) 



.MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 



189 



6. Make no idols of any kind. 
(Siamese Buddhistic Maxim.) 



jr. As men sow, thus shall 
they reap. (Bow den's "Imita- 
tion of Buddha," p. 109.) 



8. Believe after observation 
and analysis; when it agrees 
with reason, and is conducive 
to the gain and the good of 
one and all; then accept it and 
live up to it. (A Buddhistic 
teaching.) 



6. Little children keep your- 
selves from Idols. (I John v, 

21.) 

7. Be not deceived; God is 
not mocked for whatsoever a 
man soweth, that shall he also 
reap. (Galatians vi, 7.) 

8. Lord I believe, help thou 
mine unbelief. (Mark ix, 24.) 



The Heathen (Buddhistic) 
Ten Commandments. 

I. Kill not but have regard 
for life. 

II. Steal not, neither rob; 
but help everybody to be mas- 
ter of the fruits of his labor. 

III. Abstain from impurity; 
and lead a life of chastity. 

IV. Lie not, but be truthful. 
Speak the truth with discre- 
tion, fearlessly and with a 
loving heart. 

V. Invent not evil reports 
nor repeat them. Carp not, 
but look for the good side of 
your fellow beings, so that you 
may with sincerity defend them 
against their enemies. 

VI. Swear not, but speak 
with propriety and dignity. 

VII. Waste not your time in 
gossip, but speak to the pur- 
pose or keep silence. 



The Christian Ten Command- 
ments. 

I. Thou shalt have no Gods 
before me. 

II. Thou shalt not take the 
name of the Lord thy God in 
vain. 

III. Thou shalt not make any 
graven image. 

IV. Remember the Sabbath 
'day to keep it holy. 



V. Honor thy father and thy 
mother. 



VI. Thou shalt not kill. 



VII. Thou shalt not commit 
adultery. 



190 



SYMBOLIC TEACHING 



VIII. Thou shalt not steal. 



IX. Thou shalt not bear 
false witness against thy 
neighbor. 



X. Thou shalt not covet thy 
neighbor's house nor anything 
that is thy neighbor's. 



VIII. Covet not, nor envy, 
but rejoice at the good fortune 
of others. 

IX. Cleanse your heart of 
malice and cherish no hatred, 
not even against your enemies ; 
but embrace all living beings 
with impartial and unlimited 
kindness. 

X. Free your mind from 
ignorance and seek to learn 
the truth especially in the one 
thing that is needful, lest you 
fall a prey either to skepticism 
or to errors. Skepticism will 
make you indifferent, and er- 
rors will lead you astray so 
that you will not find the noble 
path that leads to emancipa- 
tion. (An exposition of Bud- 
dhism, by Dr. Paul Carus, page 
3.) 

LEGENDS OF THE THREE VIRGINS. 

The unity of spirit and purpose, as well as the com- 
mon lineage and source of Ancient Religions and Chris- 
tianity, may disclose itself to the intelligent and unbiased 
student, as either incomplete inquiry or ignorance on 
the part of the early Christian Fathers has lead them to 
strangely copy from the 



LEGENDS OF THE THREE VIRGINS. 



Hindu. 

Litany of our Lady 

Nari. 

Virgin Devaki. 

1. Holy Nari- 
Mariana, Mother of 
perpetual Fecundity. 

2. Mother of an 
incarnated God — 
Vishnu. (Devana- 
ki.) 



Egyptian. 
Litany of our Lady 
Isis. 
Virgin Isis. 
I. Holy Isis, Uni- 
versal Mother — 
Muth. 



2. Mother 
Gods — Athyr. 



of 



Roman Catholic. 

Litany of our Lady 

of Loretta. 

Virgin Mary. 

1. Holy Mary, 

Mother of Divine 

Grace. 



2. Mother 
God. 



of 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 



191 



3. Mother of 
Chrisna. 

4. Eternal virgin- 
ity — Kanyabava. 

5. Mother — Pure 
essence, Akasa. 



6. Virgin most 
chaste — Kanaya. 

7. Mother Tau- 
matra, of the five 
virtues or elements. 



8. Virgin Trigana 
(of the three ele- 
ments, power, love 
and mercy). 

9. Mirror of Su- 
preme conscience. 

10. Wise Mother 
— Saraswati. 



11. Virgin of the 
White Lotus, Ped- 
ma or Kamala. 

12. W o m b of 
Gold. 

13. Celestial light 
— Lakshmi, consort 
of Vishnu. 



4. Ditto. 



15. Queen of 
Heaven and the 
Universe — Sakti. 



3. Mother 
Horus. 



of 



3. Mother 
Christ. 



of 



4. Virgo genera- 
trix — Neith. 

5. Mother-soul of 
the universe Anouke 
— Goddess of life. 

6. Virgin sacred 
earth — Isis. 

7. Mother of all 
the virtues Thmei, 
with the same quali- 
ties. 



8. Illustrious Isis, 
most powerful, mer- 
ciful, just (Book of 
the Dead). 

9. Mirror of Jus- 
tice and Truth. 

10. Mysterious 
mother of the world 
— Buto (Secret 
Wisdom). 



4. Virgin of Vir- 
gins. 

5. Mother of Di- 
vine Grace. 



6. Virgin 
chaste. 



most 



7. Mother most 
pure. Mother unde- 
fined. Mother invio- 
late. Mother most 
amiable. Mother 
most admirable. 

8. Virgin most 
powerful. Virgin 
most merciful. Vir- 
gin most faithful. 

9. Mirror of Jus- 
tice. 

10. Seat of Wis- 
dom. 



II. Sacred Lotus. 11. Mystical Rose. 



12. S i st rum of 
Gold. 

13. A s t a r t e the 
Syrian Goddess 
consort of Adon — 
" Lord " (Astaroth 
Jewish). 

14. Arguna of the 
Moon "ark of 
womb of nature." 

15. Q u e en of 
Heaven and of the 
Universe — Sati. 



12. House 
Gold. 



of 
13. Morning Star. 



14. Ark 

Covenant. 



of the 



15. Queen 
Heaven (Gate 
Heaven). 



of 
of 



192 



SYMBOLIC TEACHING 



16. Mother Soul 
of all beings — Par- 
amatama. The Su- 
preme Soul of the 
Universe. 

17. Devanaki — 
Mother of Chrisna 
conceived without 
sin ; and immaculate 
herself. 7 



16. Model of all 
Mothers. A t h o r . 
"Mother Night" 
Primeval Chaos. 



17. I sis — The 
Goddess Virgin 
Mother — Personi- 
fied nature. 7 



16. Mater — Dolo- 
rosa. 



17. Mary, Mother 
of our Creator ; 

Mother _ of Christ 
— conceived without 
sin. 7 



THE LEGENDS OF THE THREE SAVIOURS. 

The life and ministry of the Saviours of the World 
also represent this same unity of spirit and of purpose, 
and further substantiate the statements herein made, that 
the only difference in their teachings are of methods and 
not of substance. I have selected only three saviours 
of the religions of the world for comparative study : 



Egyptian Osiris. 

1. Epoch : Accord- 
ing to Herodotus, 
Bunsen and Rawlin- 
son, the worship of 
Osiris throughout 
Egypt was universal 
from the most re- 
mote antiquity. 

2. Osiris is the 
Son of Seb, God of 
time and the Uni- 
verse, back of whom 
is Amon-Ra, the 
Lion God, or invis- 
ible creative force. 



Christian Jesus. 

1. Epoch: Sup- 
posed to be 1,914 
years ago. His birth 
and royal descent 
are concealed from 
Herod the Tyrant. 



Hindu Chrisna^ 

1. Epoch : Uncer- 
tain. European Sci- 
ence fears to com- 
mit itself. But the 
Brahmanical calcu- 
1 a t i o n s fix it at 
about 6,913 years 
ago. 

2. Chrisna de- 
scends from a royal 
family: is brought 
up by Shepherds, 
and is called the 
shepherd God. His 
birth and divine 
descent are kept se- 
cret from King 
Kansa. Narasinha 
the " Man Lion " 
an Avatar of Vish- 
nu. 

7 See " Isis Unveiled," Vol. II, page 209. " A Classical Dic- 
tionary of Hindu Mythology and Religion," by John Dowson, 
M.R.A.S. " Catholic Prayer Book, Litany of the Blessed Virgin 
Mary." 



2. Descends of the 
Royal family of 
David (the Lion of 
the tribe of Juda). 
Is worshiped by 
Shepherds at his 
birth and is called 
the " Good Shep- 
herd." 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 



193 



3. Chrisna — the 
Saviour of the Hin- 
dus. 



4. An incarnation 
of Vishnu, the sec- 
ond person of the 
Hindu Trinity 
Chrisna was wor- 
shiped at Mathura 
on the river Jumma 
(sec Strabo and 
Arrian and Bamp- 
ton lectures, pages 
98-100). 



5. Chrisna is per- 
secuted by King 
Kansa, Tyrant of 
Madura, but mirac- 
ulously escapes. The 
King, in hope of de- 
stroying the child, 
has thousands of 
male innocents 
slaughtered. ("In- 
nocents " and " In- 
fants "= initiates or 
the " once more re- 
born.") 



3. The God-Man 
who suffered, died, 
and rose again 
(Budge " The Gods 
of the Egyptian"). 

4. T h e greatest 
God of Egypt whose 
four chief aspects 
were the spiritual, 
intellectual, psychic 
and physical. These 
four aspects sym- 
bolize the dual ego, 
the divine and the 
human man. 



5. The Egyptians 
(and Babylonians) 
do not recount a 
slaughter of the in- 
nocents. 



3. Jesus Christ 
the Saviour. 



4. An incarnation 
of the Holy Ghost. 
Originally the sec- 
ond, not the third 
person of the Trin- 
ity. But the Chris- 
tian Trinity was not 
invented (incom- 
plete even at that) 
until 325 years after 
his birth at the first 
council of Nice. 
The Holy Ghost had 
always been femi- 
nine, and Jesus is 
made to address the 
Holy Ghost as his 
" Mother " in every 
Gnostic Gospel. 
The completed dog- 
ma of the Trinity- 
was not made until 
385. a. d. at the 
Council of Constan- 
tinople. 

5. Jesus is perse- 
cuted by Herod, 
King of Judea but 
escapes into Egypt 
under conduct of an 
angel. To assure 
his slaughter Herod 
orders a massacre 
of innocents, and (it 
is said) 40,000 were 
slain. About 100 
B.C. there is a 
legend that Alex- 
ander Janneus of 
Lydia, persecuted 
and slaughtered 
many hundreds of 
"Infants," i. e., the 



194 



SYMBOLIC TEACHING 



6. Chrisna's mother 
was Devaki or De- 
vanagi, an immacu- 
late Virgin (but 
who had given birth 
to eight sons before 
Chrisna). 



7. Chrisna is en- 
dowed with beauty, 
omniscience, and 
omnipotence from 
birth, produces mir- 
acles, cures the 
lame and blind, and 
casts out demons, 
washes the feet of 
the Brahmans, and 
descending to the 
lowest regions 
(hell!) liberates the 
dead and returns to 
the paradise of 
Vishnu. Chrisna was 
the God Vishnu in 
human form. 

8. Chrisna crushes 
the Serpent's head. 



6. T h e Immacu- 
late Virgin Nout or 
Neith, was the 
mother of Osiris. 
(De Mirville, a 
Catholic authority 
" Archaeology of the 
Virgin Mother/' p. 
,117.) 



7. Osiris is en- 
dowed with omnip- 
otence. He is 
Toum, the creative 
force of the uni- 
verse. He is self- 
generated and self- 
existent. He goes 
about doing good. 
Judges the dead in 
Amenti first in 
Hades, then in the 
" good Father's 
House." 



8. Osiris pierces 
the Dragon's head 
(the Dragon or 
Serpent is an an- 
cient symbol of wis- 
,dom, immortality, 
and rebirth). In 
every ancient lan- 
guage the % word 
dragon signified 
what it now does in 
Chinese — "lang," 



once more reborn or 
real initiates. In the 
Talmud, Paul is re- 
ferred to as the " lit- 
tle one." See also 
I Samuel x, 6. 

6. Jesus' mother 
was Maria m or 
Miriam; married to 
her husband, yet an 
immaculate Virgin, 
but had several chil- 
dren besides Jesus. 
(See Matt.xiii, 55- 
56; xxvii, 156; 
Mark vi, 3; xv, 40; 
xvi, 1.) 

7. Jesus is simi- 
lar ly endowed. 
Passes his life with 
sinners and publi- 
cans. Casts out 
demons. Washes 
the feet of the disci- 
ples, descends into 
hell, ascends to 
heaven after liberat- 
ing the dead. 



8. Jesus is said to 
have crushed the 
Serpent's head, 
agreeably to original 
revelation in Gene- 
sis. (Gospel of In- 
fancy.) 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 



195 



9. Chrisna perse- 
cutes the Clergy. 
Charges them with 
■ambition and hypoc- 
risy to their faces, 
divulges the great 
secrets of the Sanc- 
tuary, viz. : the unity 
of God and immor- 
tality of our Spirit. 
Tradition says he 
fell a victim to their 
vengeance. His fa- 
vorite disciple, Ar- 
juna, never deserts 
him. There are 
creditable traditions 
that he died on the 
Cross, nailed to it 
by an arrow. The 
best scholars agree, 
that, the Irish Cross 
at Taum, erected 
long before the 
Christian era, is 
Asiatic (see" Round 
Towers," page 296 
et seq. by O'Brien ; 
also Religious de 
Antique " ; Creuzer's 
"Symbolik," Vol. I, 
page 208; and en- 
graving in Dr. Lun- 
dy's " Monumental 
Christianity," page 
160). 



i. e., " the being who 
excels in intelli- 
gence," and in the 
Greek " dragon," or 
" he who sees and 
watches." Thus 
" serpents and drag- 
o n s of wisdom " 
mean more than the 
words themselves 
convey. 

9. Bousaze shows 
that Osiris taught 
the sciences of mu- 
sic, astronomy and 
geometry, invented 
agriculture, stopped 
the overflowing of 
the Nile, and Budge, 
in " The Gods of 
the Egyptians," Vol. 
II, p. 126, says " that 
he lived a good life 
and ruled as a wise 
and a just King. 
Was slain by the 
malice of evil men, 
his body was muti- 
lated, gathered up 
by Isis, buried ; and 
later he rose again." 
The tau the Egyp- 
tian Cross figures in 
the symbolism of 
this and many other 
Egyptian Gods. 



9. Jesus rebels 
against the old Jew- 
ish Law; denounces 
the Scribes, and 
Pharisees, and the 
Synagogue, for hy- 
pocrisy and dog- 
m a t i c intolerance. 
Breaks the Sabbath ; 
defies the Law; and 
is accused of di- 
vulging the secrets 
of the Sanctuary. 
Dies on the Cross. 
Of his little band 
of disciples one be- 
trays him, one de- 
nies him, and the 
others desert him, 
excepting John the 
Disciple he loved. 



i 9 6 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 



io. C h r i s n a as- 10. Osiris reigns 10. Jesus ascends 
cends to Swarga. in Amend. to Heaven. 

THE TRINITY. 

Neither the Old nor the New Testament contains the 
word " Trinity." The Christian Dogma of the Trinity 
was propounded 325 a. d. 

In first Epistle of John v, 7, we read : " For there 
are three that bear record in Heaven, the Father, the 
Word, and the Holy Ghost; and these three are one." 

This verse is found in but one Greek manuscript (at 
Berlin) which was transcribed from some interpolated 
paraphrase between the lines. 8 In the first and second 
editions of Erasmus 15 16-15 19 this allusion to these three 
heavenly witnesses is omitted. It is not contained in 
any Greek text earlier than the fifteenth century. It 
is not mentioned by the early Latin Fathers who were 
anxious to get every proof for their trinity. Edward 
Gibbon was early in pointing it out as spurious. Arch- 
bishop Newcombe and the Bishop of Lincoln also ex- 
press their conviction as to its spuriousness. 

Even the Doctrine of the Trinity has its exact counter- 
part in the older religions, showing again a unity of 
spirit not to be passed over by anathema or ignored be- 
cause of the heresy fear. For comparative study, the 
Trinity in three religions, Hindu, Egyptian, and Chris- 
tian, have been selected. 

THE TRINITIES. 

The Great Cause. The One. The Primordial Germ. 
The Unrevealed. Grand All, Existing through himself. 
Is, in the 



Hindu. 


Egyptian. 


Christian. 


Brahma. 


Amon - Ra. The 


God the creator 




Lion God. The In- 


of the Universe. 




visible creative 






power. 





8 "Isis Unveiled," Vol. II, page 177. 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 



197 



Whenever the Great Cause, The One, The Eternal, 
manifests, it always does so in a duality; and becomes 
dual in every system : 

Duality of the Manifested Trinity Father-Mother 

Hindu. 

Xara = The origi- 
nal or eternal Man. 

Nari== The Femi- 
nine principle. 



Egyptian. 

Adapa = The first 
man has Wisdom 
and knowledge, but 
is denied immortal- 
ity. Is sent to 
heaven, but forbid- 
den to eat or to 
drink there. A n u , 
however, orders the 
food and the water 
of life; but Adapa 
refuses them, thus 
losing immortality. 
As a partial recom- 
pense he is given 
dominion and sover- 
eignty and becomes 
the father of all 
mankind ( S ayce, 
" Religions of Egypt 
and Babylonia"). 



Christian. 

Adam = The first 
man. In the He- 
brew the word 
means " only begot- 
ten " ; in Sanscrit 
11 the first Lord." 

Eve = The first 
woman. In the He- 
brew, " mother of 
all that lives." 



Moreover each of these systems has a triple trinity, 
each proceeding separately through itself from one Fe- 
male Deity. 



Hindu. 
Brahma, Vishnu 
and Siva are blend- 
ed into One, who 
is Brahma, creating 
and being created 
through the Virgin 
Nari (Universal 
space — Eternal 
ideation — Matter 
and Force). 



Egyptian. 
Osiris, Isis, Ho- 
rus. The believer in 
Osiris must imitate 
his example and 
" live the life." Isis 
is the Virgin mother 
of Horus who in 
turn is a Chaste 
Deity. "The father 
became the Son ; 
and the Son the 
Father, throughout 
all time." — Sayce. 



Christian. 
The Father, the 
Son and the Holy 
Ghost; Mary the 
Virgin mother of 
three Gods, since 
they are one.^ This 
is the Christian 
Heavenly Tetraktys 
or the sacred four. 
The Pythagoreans 
500 years before, 
and the Chinese still 
earlier, had their 
sacred four as a 



i 9 8 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

symbol of God, 
Matter, the World, 
and the Spiritual 
Universe. 

WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS. 

Now does it not seem a poor compliment to pay to 
the Supreme, to force upon Him four gospels, in which, 
contradictory as they often are, there is not a single 
narrative, sentence or peculiar expression, whose paral- 
lel may not be found in some older doctrine or philoso- 
phy? Surely the Almighty — were it but to spare fu- 
ture generation their present perplexity might have 
brought with him, at His first and only incarnation on 
earth, something original — something that would trace 
a distinct line of demarcation between Himself and the 
score or so of incarnate Pagan Gods, who had also been 
born of Virgins, had all been Saviours, and were either 
killed or otherwise sacrificed themselves for humanity. 

What the world needs is a more faithful view of a 
personage, in whose favor nearly half of Christendom 
has dethroned the Almighty. The World needs even a 
less exalted view of Jesus, the Christ — who if accepted 
as an historical and human personage has far greater 
claims upon our love and veneration, fallible as this view 
would make him, even with all his greatness, than if 
we figure him as the Incarnated Omnipotent God. 

The Orthodox view would say, " If Christ was not 
God, he was the worst impostor that ever lived" (Dean 
Matthews, Cincinnati); again "Was Christ Man only? 
If so I prefer some rugged American, as Washington or 
Lincoln or Jefferson " (Rev. Evan Evans, Middeltown, 
O.). On the contrary, it is in the character of Omnip- 
otent God — that every reverential mind must regard 
Christ a failure. 

The truth can hurt no one. ." The truth is not to be 
feared." * 

9 Pope Pius X quoted by Father Jeremiah Crowley of Chicago, 
in "The Parochial School, a Curse to the Church, a Menace to 
the Nation." 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 199 

" We need not be frightened," says Professor Mul- 
ler, " if we discover traces of truth, traces even of Chris- 
tian truth, among the sages and lawgivers of other na- 
tions. " 

So be it, here is more than a Trace of Christian truth : 
The miraculous birth of the Egyptian kings is well 
explained in a series of sculptures on the wall of the 
temple of Luxor. First the god Thoth, with the head 
of an Ibis, and with his ink and pen case in his left hand, 
as the messenger of the gods, like the Mercury of the 
Greeks, tells the maiden queen Mautmes, that she is to 
give birth to a son, who is to be king Amunothph III. 
Secondly, the God Kneph, the spirit, with a ram's head, 
and the goddess Athor, with the sun and cow's horns 
upon her head, both take hold of the queen by her hand, 
and put into her mouth the character for life, which is 
to be the life of the coming child. Thirdly, the queen, 
when the child is to be born, is seated on the midwife's 
stool, as described in Exodus i, 16; two of the attending 
nurses rub her hands to ease the pains of childbirth, 
while another of the nurses holds up the baby over which 
is written the name of King Amunothph III. He holds 
his finger to his mouth to mark his infancy; he has not 
yet learned to speak. Lastly the several gods or priests 
attend in adoration upon their knees to present their gifts 
to this wonderful child, who is seated in the midst of 
them and is receiving their homage. In this picture we 
have the Annunciation, the Conception, the Birth, and 
the Adoration as described in the first and second chap- 
ters of Luke's Gospel; and as we have historical assur- 
ance that the chapters in Matthew's Gospel which con- 
tain the Miraculous Birth of Jesus are an after addition 
not in the earliest manuscripts, it seems probable that 
these two poetical chapters in Luke also may be unhis- 
torical, and be borrowed from the Egyptian accounts of 
the miraculous birth of their king." 10 

10 For corroboration of these statements see Sayce, " The Re- 
ligions of Ancient Egypt and Babylonia," pages 45 and 249. See 
also Champollion's descriptions of " The Temple of Luxor." 



200 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

" The Egyptians had a sacred tree, but want of exact- 
ness in the accounts of it leads us to doubt whether it 
was an Acacia of the sensitive class, that bowed its, leaves 
in silent hospitality to the weary traveler that sat under 
its slender shade, or whether it was a fruit-bearing tree 
the Balanites iEgyptiaca. The goddess Neith seated in 
its branches sometimes is pouring out the characters for 
life and power on the head of the king. When the 
philosopher Apollonius of Tyana visited Thebes, the tree 
in a womanly voice declared him to be a teacher sent 
from heaven. In this it may be compared to the bush 
out of which the voice spoke to Moses, in Exodus iii, 2. 
But at other times it is more like the tree of life, or that 
of knowledge, in the garden of Eden in Genesis iii, as 
when an Egyptian priest, after death, is painted as kneel- 
ing before the tree, and his soul stands beside him in 
form of a bird with human head; and they are both 
drinking the water which the goddess is pouring into 
their mouths." 

He says furthermore, " When the creed of Christen- 
dom was to be settled by the votes of the bishops, after 
Egyptian superstition had already gained a strong foot- 
ing in Alexandria, any purer or more simple views of 
Christianity stood little chance of holding their ground 
in an assembly of divines summoned from yet wider and 
more ignorant provinces. 

" At Nicsea, as is usually the case in an assembly of 
divines, the more superstitious talked down and frowned 
down the more reasonable; the Emperor at first sided 
with the Egyptians. The Egyptians' opinions, supported 
by the eloquence and earnestness of the young Athana- 
sius, the spokesman of the Egyptian bishops, prevailed. 
He drew up the celebrated form of words, now known 
by the name of the Nicene Creed, as a statement of the 
opinions which the Egyptians contended for; and the 
council ended their labors by ordering everybody to re- 
ceive it as the true Christian faith." 

For even an earlier story of a " Virgin Birth " see Dr. Naville's 
text found at Der el Bahari. Also Sharpe's " History of Egypt." 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 201 

The controversy was by no means at once settled by 
this decree. When later, Constantine saw that the quar- 
rel was more political than religious, he took the other 
side of the question, and joined the Greeks ; and Egypt 
continued almost in rebellion on a point of controversial 
theology, during the reigns of Constantine, Constantius, 
Julian, Jovian, and Valens. For forty years Athana- 
sius, the darling hero of the Egyptians, was able to defy 
the power of the Emperors, and after his death peace 
was restored only on the accession of Theodosius, who 
took the side of the Egyptians, and allowed them in their 
turn to persecute the more enlightened Arian Greeks. 
From that time forward the Christianity of the super- 
stitious Egyptians became the Christianity of the ma- 
jority in Alexandria, and after a time, with very few 
variations, the Christianity of the greater part of the 
world. 

The aim of the Nicene Creed was to require everybody 
to acknowledge that Jesus Christ was a God, in such 
clear and forcible terms as to turn out of the church all 
who would not follow the later and degraded Egyptian 
ideas in the mystical opinions which they had intro- 
duced, so that there should be no escape for those who 
believed in one only God, and who gave any whatever 
lower rank to the Saviour. It declares that there is 
one God, the Maker of all things, and yet that the one, 
Lord Jesus Christ, was not made ; that he also was very 
God of very God, and was yet crucified by Pontius Pi- 
late ; that he had been previously incarnate by the Holy 
Ghost of the Virgin Mary and made man, although of 
one substance with the Father. All this carried with it 
no contradiction to the mind of the Egyptians. They 
were used to being told and believing that two Gods 
could be one God. They were used to hear of a God 
being put to death, as they had always held that Osiris, 
though a God, had been put to death. They were used 
to hear of children being born of an earthly mother and 
having no earthly father, as they held that many of their 



202 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

kings were so born, being incarnate by the god 
Amun-Ra. 

" The Nicene Creed does not mention the Trinity nor 
the two natures of Christ, but leaves the contradictions 
stated in the boldest terms. The well-known Athana- 
sian creed in which an explanation of the difficulties 
has been attempted, is supposed to have been written 
two or three hundred years later, and the name of the 
great Alexandrian bishop has been given to it, either 
dishonestly or because it was thought to represent his 
opinions. This latter creed states that though ' The 
Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Ghost is 
God, yet they are not three Gods but one God.' This 
is the degraded and Pagan Egyptian doctrine of plural- 
ity in unity, which is represented in numerous sculp- 
tures. It then asserts the two natures of Christ, that 
he is both ' perfect God, and perfect man.' This was 
meant to get over the difficulty of a dying God, which 
had been ridiculed by Xenophanes, in the case of Osiris, 
five centuries before the Christian era ; when he told the 
Egyptians that if Osiris was a man they should not wor- 
ship him, and if he was a god they need not lament his 
sufferings; but this Athanasian creed, though setting 
forth the Pagan Egyptian opinions, was an offspring of 
the Latin church, and it is very doubtful whether it 
would have been wholly approved of by Athanasius. 
The Egyptians had raised Mary, the wife of Joseph, al- 
most into a goddess, at least into " the mother of God " 
who had imparted no portion of human nature to her 
son; they denied the two natures of Christ and clung 
faithfully to the words of their own Nicene Creed, which 
declared that he was ' of one substance with the 
Father/ " 

Another so-called "trace" of Christian truth is 
found in the Hermetic books; Sayce does not hesitate 
to say that they were derived from genuine sources, 
though a compilation of the Greek age; that they repre- 
sented with more or less exactitude the beliefs and 
practices of an earlier generation, and that the materials 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 203 

out of which they were compiled went back to the re- 
motest antiquity. 

THE TRINITY IN THE BOOK OF HERMES. 11 

In the Book of Hermes is enunciated in distinct and 
unequivocal sentences, the whole trinitarian dogma ac- 
cepted by the Christians. " The light is me," says 
rimander, " the Divine Thought." " I am the nous or 
intelligence, and I am thy God, and I am far older than 
the human principle which escapes from the shadow. I 
am the germ of thought, the resplendent Word, the Son 
of God. Think that what thus sees and hears in thee, 
is the Verbum of the Master, it is the Thought, which is 
God the Father. . . . The Celestial Ocean, the ^Ether, 
which flows from east to west, is the Breath of the 
Father, the life-giving principle, the Holy Ghost! . . . 
For they are not all separated, and their union is Life." 
(" Isis Unveiled," Vol. II, page 50.) 

What is needed now, is a Christian public that will 
examine what can be offered regarding the identity of 
Pythagorean, Hindu, and New Testament and other 
teachings, and who will render a verdict based on com- 
mon honesty. 

""Thrice Greatest Hermes." By G. R. S. Mead, page 8 et 
cet, page 78. 



A LUTHERAN MINISTER'S MISINTERPRETA- 
TION OF FREEMASONRY 1 

HAVING read the book " Freemasonry : An In- 
terpretation " by Martin L. Wagner, Pastor of 
the St. John's English Evangelical Lutheran 
Church, Dayton, Ohio, we have wondered what good 
it would do to make reply to our reverend critic along 
the lines adopted by him. That is, by using authorities, 
avowedly Christian; and then by a subtle use of quota- 
tions and reading into them a preconceived " interpreta- 
tion " so as to leave the whole matter in as bad a light 
as possible with the non-discriminating reader. 

But our Lutheran critic's view is only an " interpre- 
tation," as he is not a Mason, even at heart. The quo- 
tations from Masonic books, selected by our critic, do 
not fully and fairly represent the Masonic side of the. 
case, but according to the astigmic logic of our antago- 
nist, the quotations he has made use of are to be inter^ 
preted in but one way, and that way, his own. 

We propose to show that, if the author of this latest 
of a long line of attacks on Masonry, accepts in good 
faith the Phallic interpretation of Masonry, he cannot 
escape exactly the same degraded interpretation of the 
symbols of his own religion. If he defends his own 
religion from the attack of Phallic authorities, he thereby 
defends Masonry and Masons whom he so vilely slan- 
ders. 

We shall first quote liberally from his book to show 
the line of attack and the venom of a disciple of the 
Man of Sorrows. Each quotation from the book under 

1 Read in a meeting of The Cincinnati Masonic Study Schctol, 
January 5, 1913. 

204 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 205 

review, shall be in italics. Our commentary in ordi- 
nary type. 

Briefly we shall review our clerical critic's unwar- 
ranted and garbled statement of Masonic symbolism, 
and indicate the exact teaching of the Lodge, together 
with some brief extension of the teaching along the 
linos of real spiritual truth. 

Finally we shall pass in review the symbols of the 
Christian religion ; show how the degraded Phallic in- 
terpretation has been applied to each and all of them. 
But unlike our Lutheran critic we shall proceed to show, 
very briefly, some of the spiritual and Masonic symbolic 
teaching of these same Christian symbols, so that any 
who may read this, may know that we are not tearing 
down the faith of anyone. 

In the Preface, page 15, our critic says: "It (Free- 
masonry) is a religion which makes the mystery of pro- 
creation the objective fact upon which it rests; the 
mysterious life generating principle in man the object 
of adoration and worship; the generative acts the pat- 
tern for its rites and ceremonies; the generative organs 
the basis of its symbolism, and the passions the inspiring 
spirit." 

This is the Reverend Mr. Wagner's interpretation, 
and it is not Masonic. When the keys to ancient sym- 
bolism were no longer in possession of the materialistic 
and carnal minded priests of the ancient religions, then 
Phallicism came into its own. If our critic- accepts and 
advocates a Phallic interpretation as the " only " inter- 
pretation of Freemasonry, he cannot escape a similar 
charge as to Christianity itself. The Mason who knows 
Masonry can and will defend not only the Masonic 
teaching, but as well the teaching of Him who made of 
Paul a wise master-builder (I Cor. in, to). 

To show that our critic has " misinterpreted the ideo- 
graphs and glyphs, and misstated the Doctrines of Free- 
masonry," it is necessary for us to point out the 
shallowness of the Phallic criticism of Masonry. 



206 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

If Mr. Wagner's interpretation as to the deeper mean- 
ing of Freemasonry is correct then from the highest 
authorities on Phallicism, the fundamental basis of his 
own religion is also Phallic, because Inman, Jennings, 
Forlong, Wake and others, interpret Christianity as be- 
ing nothing more or less than Phallicism; does Mr. 
Wagner accept their interpretation? 

If he does not, then let him be careful how he cites 
them as witnesses against Freemasonry, but studiously 
avoids admitting their testimony in his direct examina- 
tion. On cross-examination, his own witnesses estab- 
lish the facts against him, and Freemasonry stands free 
from the vile charges of one who claims " honest use 
of words" when he thinks they can be of aid to his 
argument, but who will look at the matter quite differ- 
ently when he finds himself called upon to free his con- 
science from criminal duplicity in the effort to mislead 
those who may read and review his book. 

After reading the Lutheran minister's book, we turn to 
" Rivers of Life or Faiths of Man in all Lands," by 
Major-General Forlong, Vol. I, page 345 : " In many 
respects the Christian Church recalls to mind the oldest 
faiths. Like the inner Delphic Chasm-chapel, it has 
a Font and Ark in an Altar, or as the English clergy 
prefer to call it, a ' Holy Table,' where the Eucharistic 
sacrifice — if not sacrificial rites — takes place ; and in 
a columnal sort of edifice called the Pulpit — of most 
ominous derivation, if we seek the Hebrew, we have a 
type of the great Om-phalos or Lingam Column . . ." 
(Lingam, i.e., male element of generation). 

If Freemasonry, as Mr. Wagner states on page 440 
of his book, regards the " earthly sphere as embodied in 
the female element, and the heavenly or celestial sphere 
as embodied in the masculine element " and *' of this 
Matrix the Masonic Lodge room is a symbol also " let 
him look at figure 154 on page 346 of Vol. I of Forlong's 
" Rivers of Life," where the Christian Church is shown 
planned as a Phallus and Yoni. If Mr. Wagner be- 
lieves what he says as to Masonry, he must believe ex- 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 207 

actly the same in regard to Christianity as the arguments 
in support of one, support the other. 

Let him search his books on Phallicism for what is 
said in regard to Christian Art and Symbols and then 
ask himself if he believes the Phallic interpretations. 
Whatever defense he would feel called upon to make 
for his religious symbols, that same defense will apply 
to Freemasonry. 

The Mason versed in the deeper or real meaning of 
symbolism, is not only able but willing to elucidate the 
living spiritual truth in all of the symbols of old, not 
alone the symbols of Masonry, but those of Christianity 
as well. This we propose to do in the limited time and 
space at present at our command. 

Preface, pages 13-14 — "Religion has ever been and 
is even now the most powerful factor in human activi- 
ties. In some form it has been the motor back of the 
commanders of the armies, and of statesmen that 
founded the great world empires of the past, that ani- 
mated and upheld the most despotic governments, that 
fomented the bloodiest revolutions, that precipitated 
nations into sanguinary conflicts and that united alien 
peoples into almost indissoluble unions; that established 
the most arbitrary and despotic priestcraft, enforced 
intellectual thralldom, and the tyranny of rulers. It has 
instigated, sustained and justified the most dastardly, 
atrocious, barbarous, and licentious acts in human an- 
nals, as well as the most liberal, just and pure. It has 
inspired the erection of the most stupendous, most elab- 
orate, and the most costly structures as monuments to 
its power, and as shrines for its gods. It has produced 
the finest specimens of art, voiced the sweetest and 
holiest of song and inspired the loftiest flights of the 
intellect in all the realms of human knowledge. It has 
transformed human perverts into saints, and changed 
moral creatures into demons of lust, fury, and crime. 
It has enabled timid women and children to defy the 
threats of tyrants, and smile upon the terrors of dun- 



208 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

geon, flames, and death. It has cemented brotherhoods 
and cults into unions which defeat the sagacity of 
statesmen, the erudition of jurists, the skill of mar- 
shals, the power of kings and the anathemas of popes, 
to destroy. Religion is without doubt the most power- 
ful motor in man, and religion is the motor in Freema- 
sonry." 

What is Religion, that it has done all of the horrible 
things attributed to it, together with the good. 

What the modern mind demands, is an answer to the 
question what is religion, that will not outrage rea- 
son, nor offend faith. Furthermore, an answer that 
leaves it to the individual to apply it to his own religion. 

Let us say — " Religion is the application of the facts 
of Science and the conclusions of Philosophy to individ- 
ual life and conduct." 

This definition calls for " further light " as we Ma- 
sons say — and so we ask: What is Science and what 
is Philosophy? 

To which queries the author of the " Great Work," 
also thrown into the scrap pile by our critic, replies: 

" Science is exact knowledge of the facts of nature, 
classified and systematized. 

" Philosophy is the conclusions which men in their 
search for a knowledge of truth, have drawn from the 
facts of science." 

Then what is Truth? 

"Truth is the established relation which the facts of 
nature sustain to each other and to the Individual In- 
telligence or Soul of man." 

These are some of the deeper teachings of Masonry, 
and the reason that so few Masons know them is be- 
cause it requires a sustained personal effort on the part 
of anyone to delve deeply into such matters; but the 
knowledge awaits the persistent student in the building 
of character. 

Or as Masonry says when the symbolism of the Ma- 
sonic gavel is unfolded : " It is used by operative 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 209 

Masons to prepare rough stones for the builder's use; 
but we as Free and Accepted Masons are taught to use 
it for the more noble and glorious purpose of divesting 
our hearts and consciences of the vices and superfluities 
of life; thereby fitting our minds as living stones for 
that spiritual building not made with hands eternal in 
the heavens." Masonic Standard Monitor, page 1 1. 

Or as St. Paul in chapter 5 and verse 1 of his sec- 
ond letter to the Corinthians : " For we know that if 
our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved we 
have a building of God, a house not made with hands, 
eternal in the heavens." This is a familiar teaching to 
Masons because St. Paul in his first letter to the Cor- 
inthians, chapter 3 and verse 10, says : " According to 
the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise 
master builder I have laid the foundation and another 
buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how 
he buildeth thereupon." 

Preface, pages 16-17. " On its theological side, Free- 
masonry is a sort of pantheism, the deity being the gen- 
erative principle, the reprodnctice power which pervades 
all animated nature. And as this power inheres in man, 
it is viewed as ' incarnate in humanity in toto/ thus es- 
tablishing man's union and unity with the divine nature. 
In the deification and worship of this generative princi- 
ple, Freemasonry makes the dominant carnal passion 
the subjective fact upon which this religion is based." 

Preface, pages 17-18. u Sex cults always have had a 
strange fascination for mankind. The ancient ethnic 
religions were sex cults, and more or less secret. So 
long as public sentiment frowns upon indecencies, ex- 
cesses, and sexual uncleanness, such cults cannot exist 
except under esoteric forms. Their existence depends 
upon secrecy. If then these secrets of Freemasonry 
become known to the general public, surely all decent 
and self-respecting men who have been lured into the 
lodge under its veiled pleas of morality will leave it 
because of shame. They will confess their deeds, and 



210 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

bum their books. But so long as carnal minded men 
deify passion and worship it in secret, so long will there 
be men who will defend this religion and who will wor- 
ship at its shrines/' 

We regret the necessity, but our clerical critic of Ma- 
sonry forces us to point him to one of the most thorough 
students of Phallicism for an identical charge against 
the Christian religion. The Reverend Mr. Wagner 
surely must have known that he opened the way to con- 
victing himself by the imprecations from his own mouth. 
Let him read the following. Any defense he may make 
as to his own religion will apply to Masonry. 

Vol. I, page 143 : " Rivers of Life or Faiths of Man 
in Many Lands," by Major-General J. G. R. Forlong, 
quoting Mr. Stanisland Wake, a director of the Anthro- 
pological Society of London — " ' the fundamental basis 
of Christianity is more purely Phallic than that of any 
other religion now existing, and its emotional nature 
. . . shows how intimately it was related to the older 
faiths which had a Phallic basis/ " Then refer to : 

Page 143, figure 56, " Virgin, and Child in Yoni." 
This is the grossest kind of Phallicism, but. Mr. Wagner 
does not mention it, because he is villifying Masonry 
and not searching for the truth. 

Mr. Wagner is quite familiar with sex-cults and casts 
his slurs upon Masonry by inference and inuendo. 
Masonry is not Phallic in its teaching, as all Masons 
know who read the books written by Masons, and thus 
get the context of that which our critic garbles to suit 
his purpose. 

If secrecy means sex cult, whatever that may mean, 
then turn to page 168, " History of the Christian 
Church," by Bishop John Fletcher Hurst : " The Se- 
cret meetings of the Christians made them especially 
obnoxious to the State." 

Also see " Luther's Letters to Women," page 90, in 
which letter secret or private household meetings were 
approved. To mention this and not at the same time 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 211 

advise a reading of several letters, to discover the earnest 
faith of Luther, is equal to our critic's method of making 
only such extracts from Masonic books as will establish 
a bias in his reader's mind. Such bias as the following 
extract would establish as to Luther's private life when 
torn from its context: 

" I had bad stuff to drink, and was made to sing. 
It is an annoyance to me to have bad wine to drink, 
when I remember what good wine and beer I have at 
home, besides a pretty wife, or shall I say it, Master? 
You would do well to send over to me a whole cellar 
full of my wine, and a bottle of your beer as often as 
you can ; for I shall not return until you have new 
beer." Luther's u Letters to Women," page 83 (see 
also pages 113, 115, 154, 162 and 167). 

But when the references are read with their context, 
it shows that he w r as writing to his wife, whom he affec- 
tionately addressed as Herr Kate, and these little free 
speeches when read in connection with all the other let- 
ters, show the loving heart of a great and a good man; 
and not a beer-soaked inebriate. 

Page 356 — " Phallic religions and cults are almost 
invariably secret." 

This is Air. Wagner's interpretation of the secrecy 
of Freemasonry. Secret because of the indecency of 
the whole deeper meaning of symbols. If it were not 
indecent, then a logical deduction from Mr. Wagner's 
argument would mean that it would be non-secret. He 
is as illogical in his interpretation, as we would be, to 
conclude the whole of Christianity is indecent because 
of its secrecy. In the sense of Matthew vi, 6, " When 
thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast 
shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in Secret, 
and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee 
openly." 

Because door in Hebrew " daleth " is also an " open- 
ing in life," would Mr. Wagner feel it justifiable for 



212 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

anyone to say the basis of verse 6 in Matthew vi is on 
a Phallic basis? This is a sample of the way he rea- 
sons, only in this instance it is turned against his reli- 
gion. 

In John vii, 4, we read, " For there is no man that 
doeth anything in secret and he himself seeketh to be 
known openly. If thou do these things shew thyself 
to the world." Thus was Jesus urged to work openly. 
But in the same chapter, verse 10, he does exactly the 
contrary : " But when his brethren were gone up, then 
went he also up into the feast, not openly, but as it 
were in secret." 

To the people Jesus spoke in parables. To his disci- 
ples he explained the parables and thus " uttered things 
which have been kept secret from the foundation of the 
world." 

From Lundy's " Monumental Christianity," page 133, 
we quote the following : " The fish figured on the an- 
cient Christian monuments is either the carp or the 
dolphin; the one an article of food; the other, the play- 
ful and darling pet of sailors. De Rossi says that the 
use of this figure or symbol belongs to the first four 
centuries of the Christian era, and is more especially 
to be referred to the times of persecution when the 
Secret Discipline of the Church existed." 

Preface, pages 18-19. "Freemasonry with its boast- 
ful claims to antiquity, universality and sublime moral- 
ity, cannot offer any valid reason why it should not be 
investigated, compared with Christianity, and tested in 
the light of history and of the Word of God. We must 
oppose the Mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of 
God over against the mystery of procreation; of spiritual 
entities and facts over against the physical mysteries of 
these cults; spiritual regeneration over against carnal 
generation." 

Freemasonry makes no boastful claims to antiquity, 
its symbols are found all over the world wherever man 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 213 

has left an enduring monument of a sublime faith or 
deep spiritual belief. When Commander Gorringe low- 
ered the Obelisk (now in Central Park, New York) 
from its pedestal at Alexandria, Egypt, there were found 
in the foundation the following Masonic symbols : a 
trowel, lead plummet, rough rectangular stone; pure 
white cubical stone; a stone trying square; a stone in 
the corner having a serpent border around it; a stone 
showing the ancient Egyptian cubical gauge; and also 
some hieroglyphs, similar to the triangles drawn on the 
trestle board as used in Masonic lodges to-day. Now 
the bronze crabs in the base of the obelisk holding it to 
the pedestal which rested on the foundation, contained 
the inscription showing the obelisk to have been erected 
in the year 22 b. c. This is no boastful claim to an- 
tiquity, and neither is it the oldest record in stone to 
which Masonry can point with pride. 

Masonry offers no reason why it should not be com- 
pared with Christianity. The morality, reputation and 
business standing of Masons is already as well known 
as the membership of any organization, religious or sec- 
ular. The Reverend John H. Honour, of Charleston, 
S. C, was a Lutheran Minister and he was, also, for 
years Grand Commander of the Supreme Council of the 
thirty-third degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish 
Rite of Freemasonry for the Southern Jurisdiction of 
the United States. {New Age, May, 1914.) Masons 
make no secret of their membership ; their meet- 
ing places are not secret, and neither is the time 
of meeting secret. The signs, grips and passwords 
by which Masons, although strangers, may rec- 
ognize each other, are secret. Even these have been 
made public so that Masonry has already been tested 
in the light of history and of the word of God, Mr. 
Wagner to the contrary notwithstanding. There are 
some tests to which he must submit ere we have com- 
pleted merely touching upon matters of which he is 
either ignorant or willfully misrepresents, or inade- 
quately " interprets. " 



214 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

The trowel is used by Masons as a symbol in " spread- 
ing the cement of brotherly love and affection; that 
cement which unites us into a sacred band, or society 
of friends and brothers, among whom no contention 
should ever exist, but that noble contention, or rather 
emulation of who best can work, and best agree." 

The pure white cubical stone carries the Masonic 
teaching of that " state of perfection at which all Ma- 
sons hope to arrive by a virtuous education, his own 
endeavors, and the blessing of God." 

The square teaches " morality." 

" The trestle-board is emblematic of the great books 
of nature and revelation, and is the Mason's moral, ma- 
sonic and spiritual trestle board showing the design of a 
life of which good men and true are made." 

Preface, page 20. "By skillfully veiling their pagan 
ideas under the terminology of Christian doctrine many 
who thought themselves serving the Lord Jesus Christ 
were led unconsciously into the pagan cults. And this 
is the method of Freemasonry/' 

Lundy's " Monumental Christianity," page 135 : " It 
cannot be doubted that the special object and motive in 
adopting the dolphin on the Christian monuments was 
to conceal as much . as possible the Christian doctrine 
from the Pagan, and at the same time express it to the 
initiated of the Christian community, by the symbols 
borrowed from mythological Pagan Art. ... In view 
of all this, Bishop Munter asks the significant question, 
1 Is it not possible, that not only the Gnostics, who did 
not shun these Pagan ideas and symbols of religion, but 
also the Catholics, adopted the dolphin as a figure of 
Christ, and had it carved on their sepulchral monuments 
with the same intent? Or have the Pagan monuments 
caught the light of Christianity by anticipation?' And 
this good Bishop does not hesitate to express the idea 
that the carp and dolphin on Christian and Pagan monu- 
ments indicate hope and belief in a blessed immortality 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 215 

secured by the mercy and goodness of God, or the Gods ; 
and this from the first age of the Church all the way 
down to the Middle Ages, for he found three fishes 
carved in the form of a triangle on old baptismal fonts 
in the Churches of Zeeland and Funen. The fishes ar- 
ranged in this form and within the circle denote the 
eternity and Trinity of God's being." 

Forlong's " Rivers of Life," page 70, Vol. II : " In all 
lands. Fish have proved the saviours of many men, and 
among the fish, the Dolphin, as the Delphus or Womb." 

This again shows that every Christian symbol is dupli- 
cated in Phallicism. Our Critic in defending the 
Christian symbols from defamation must include the 
Masonic symbols in his defense. If he refuses to de- 
fend his own religious symbols it confesses a weakness 
and is an unwillingness to be caught in his own trap. 
If he cannot show the high spiritual interpretation to 
which symbolism is the key, and thus give the death 
blow to Phallicism, Masonry can do so. 

Introduction, pages 2J, 28. "Surely it is high time 
for true believers in Christ and His Church to earnestly 
examine this world pozver and to ask themselves what 
it has to do with the startling apostasy of the masses 
front the Church, with the impurity and selfishness of 
the spirit of the age and with so much coldness, unbe- 
lief and laxness in the Church itself. Is Masonry a part 
of the final Apostasy?" 

The members of the Masonic order are very generally 
known in their various communities. The public are 
very good judges of character and Masons are perfectly 
willing to be judged by their actions, as all men are 
judged. In the great heart of humanity at large, the 
people have come to feel that it is not what a man be- 
lieves that counts, it is what he does. The test of a 
creed, and the test of Masonry, is in acts, conduct or 
ethics, and not in the theological opinion of critics and 
expounders. 



216 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

As to the charge that Masonry is the cause of lack 
of church attendance, let the Lutheran minister note 
that in 4,000 churches during the last year, no new mem- 
bers were secured through confession of faith, accord- 
ing to report of the Northern Presbyterian Assembly, 
in which report they also deplored the distressing loss 
of membership. 

Then let him ponder well the following excerpts from 
"The New Theology," by R. J. Campbell, M.A., Min- 
ister of the City Temple, London, England, in chapter 
1, pages 8-10: "The greatest of all the causes of the 
drift from the churches is the fact that Christian truth 
has become associated in the popular mind with certain 
forms of statement which thoughtful men find it im- 
possible to accept not only on intellectual but even on 
moral grounds. Certain dogmatic beliefs, for example, 
about the Fall, the scriptural basis of revelation, the 
blood atonement, the meaning of salvation, the punish- 
ment of sin, heaven and hell, are not only misleading 
but unethical. What sensible man really believes in 
these notions as popularly assumed and presented, and 
what have they to do with Christianity? They do not 
square with the facts of life, much less do they interpret 
life. They go straight in the teeth of the scientific 
method, which, even where the Christian facts are con- 
cerned, is the only method which carries weight with the 
modern mind. The consequence is that religion has 
come to be thought of as something apart from ordinary 
everyday life, a matter of churches, creeds, and Bible 
readings, instead of what it really is — the coordinating 
principle of all our activities. To put the matter in a 
nutshell — popular Christianity (or rather pulpit and 
theological college Christianity) does not interpret life. 
Consequently the great world of thought and action is 
ceasing to trouble about it. 

" Theologians and preachers rarely realize the situa- 
tion — one would think that the men whose business it 
is to teach religious truth would see this and ask them- 
selves the reason why. To an extent they do see it, 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 217 

but they never seem to think of blaming themselves for 
it except in a perfunctory kind of way. They talk about 
religious indifference, the need for better and more ef- 
fective methods, and so on. The professional theologian 
rarely does even as much as this. He takes himself 
very seriously, sniffs and sneers at any suggestion of 
deviation from the accepted standards ; mounts some 
denominational chair or other and thunders forth his 
view of the urgent necessity for rehabilitating truth in 
the grave-clothes of long-buried formulas. I mean that 
the language he habitually uses implies some kind of 
belief in formulas he no longer holds. He hardly dares 
to disinter the formulas themselves — that would not be 
convenient even for him — but he goes on flapping the 
shroud as energetically as ever, and the world does not 
even take the trouble to laugh. Wherever and when- 
ever religious agencies succeed it is rarely because of 
the driving power of what is preached, but because the 
preacher's gospel is glossed over or put in the back- 
ground. We have popular services by the million in 
which devices are used to attract the public which ought 
not to be necessary if their framers had any real mes- 
sage to declare. But they have not. Popular pulpit 
addresses rarely or never deal with the fundamental 
problems of life. The last thing one ever expects to 
hear in such addresses is a real living representation of 
the beliefs the preacher professes to hold. He makes 
passing allusions to them, of course, such as appeals to 
come to the cross, and such like, but they generally sound 
unreal, and the pill has to be sweetly sugared. The 
ordinary way of preaching the gospel is to avoid saying 
much about what the preacher believes the gospel to be." 
The foregoing quotation from a Christian Minister 
puts the blame for the " final apostasy " upon the clergy 
and not upon Masonry. Other Christian ministers can 
be cited to prove that which the people already know, 
but the large majority of the clergy are still using Mid- 
dle Age methods and are not satisfying the spiritual 
needs of the people. 



218 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

Chapter 3, pages 115, 116, 117: "We [the Lutheran 
critic of Freemasonry] summarize what T. K., the writer 
of a recent Masonic volume, entitled ' The Great Work ' 
has to say on this matter. In this book [" The Great 
Work "] the lineage of Freemasonry is traced back to 
the Great Parent School of India. This writer [T. K.] 
says: ' The life and ministry of lesus represents an- 
other effort of the great school to convey its message 
of light and life to the world. To this great school 
lesus went for his spiritual preparation. In it He spent 
the years of His special preparation. From it He went 
forth to preach the gospel of peace and the kingdom of 
love. For the cause it represents He labored and suf- 
fered and died; that the records of the great school con- 
tain a detailed history of the life of lesus, of His 
education, and preparation for His work in the world, 
and of the purposes to be accomplished thereby; that 
these records are not open to the public, but only to 
those who are duly and truly prepared, worthy and well 
qualified, and who can establish the right to such confi- 
dence/ 

"He [T. K.] asserts [in 'The Great Work'] that 
the ' ethical teachings of lesus, in so far as they have 
been accurately stated in the gospels, are identical in 
spirit and in principle with those of the Great School, 
that He was but echoing the ethical philosophy of the 
ages as it had been wrought out and crystallized within 
the secret body of the Great School of the masters; that 
lesus was made priest after the order of Melchizedek, 
the mystery of which can be understood by those who 
are familiar with the Great School of the masters, that 
His name is familiar to the members of the Great School 
as one of its most illustrious high priests; that when He 
refused to tell the chief priests and scribes by what 
authority He came among them and performed such 
wonders, He was but following the policy of secrecy 
and silence in strict conformity with which the Great 
School has proceeded through the ages and will con- 
tinue to do until secrecy, silence and obscurity are no 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 219 

longer necessary to protect it from the selfish obtrusions 
of men.' 

"It is such claims as these [resumes Mr. Wagner] 
that Masonic writers are putting forth to show that the 
church does not have the true doctrine of Jesus, that 
she has cither misunderstood and misinterpreted the 
gospel or is a deliberate deceiver and falsifier, and that 
Freemasonry is the legitimate organization founded upon 
the teachings of Jesus, and is therefore the supreme re- 
ligion." 

The best way, for friend and foe alike, is to get some 
of the Masonic books quoted by our critic, and then to 
read them with a view to understanding their purpose 
and message ; after which the reader of the books will 
be able to draw his own conclusions. The book called 
u The Great Work " comes under the ban of our Lu- 
theran critic, because it does not say about Jesus exactly 
that which the orthodox demand shall be said in order 
that it may be approved by them. 

Something must be radically wrong in the world, the 
orthodox people have had a long try at sinners along 
their lines of action, with the result that lack of interest 
is manifested on every side. 

We simply suggest to our critic, and those who may 
read this reply to him, to extend their reading; and 
Doctors of Divinity will furnish ample evidence that 
" something is wrong " and radically wrong at that. 

We now quote from a book by S. D. McConnell, D.D., 
LL.D., Rector of All Souls' Church, New York (1904), 
entitled " Christ." On page 40 we read : " The aver- 
age man of to-day does not believe that human nature 
is but the moral wreck and debris of an Edenic man. 
He refuses to believe that guilt is hereditary in any 
sense, though he knows full well that sin is. He be- 
lieves that the law against the attainder of blood is 
written in the constitution of the universe. He will not 
believe that a course of action which would be wrong 
for man can be right for God. He believes that justice 



220 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

and equity are the same things for God that they are 
for men. The human ideas of justice demand that the 
penalty shall fall upon the person who offends and not 
upon someone in his stead; even though the king fur- 
nish the victim and the substitute be ever so willing. 
. . . Religious thought no longer moves among govern- 
mental ideas and legal fictions. It has become biolog- 
ical. In the processes of the spirit, the watchwords are 
not justification, but development; not salvation, but 
character; its antitheses are not acquittal and condemna- 
tion, but living and perishing. , . ." From Rev. Mc- 
Connell's "Christ" we also quote from page 49: "To 
begin with, let us ask the plain question, Did Jesus con- 
ceive of himself as a propitiatory sacrifice, or his work 
as an expiation? The only answer possible is, Clearly 
he did not." 

We refer the reader to the book for the careful con- 
sideration of the foregoing statement. Not startling in 
the light of the dwindling attendance at churches, but 
startling to the mediaeval minds who are attempting to 
satisfy the demands of people for spiritual satisfaction, 
with theological straw, to use an expression of Martin 
-Luther. No book of the New Testament contains so 
many echoes of the words of Christ as the Epistle of 
St. James. " Yet this is the book which Luther pro- 
nounced a very epistle of straw, and had the ex- 
Augustinian monk been less preoccupied by Paul and 
the Bishop of Hippo, he might better have recognized 
in it the real Christ, for in this epistle there is no sug- 
gestion of propitiation. It is too near the Master for 
that." Now put the blame for the apostasy where it 
belongs, against the failure of ministers and priests to 
correctly interpret the spiritual message of the Master 
Jesus and not against the book, " The Great Work," 
and Masonry. To all who know what life to lead, the 
message comes with unmistakable clearness. Humanity 
at large feels by means of intuition, which is a spiritual 
faculty, not only that " something is wrong," but some- 
where in the world, some have regained the message 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 221 

and can give it in plain and simple terms and without 
price. 

And this the Great Work has done. But the book 
is not the Great Work, neither is the experience of the 
author of the book, the Great Work. What then is 
the "Great Work"? 

Study, my friend; make the personal effort to find 
out for yourself. It cannot be done by hastily reading 
to secure quotations supposedly supporting wild assump- 
tions and accusations. 

The author of the book, " The Great Work," in an- 
other volume called " The Great Psychological Crime," 
on page 335 says : " Thus under the Law of Spiritual 
Gravity this physical life is fraught with momentous 
significance and unlimited possibilities. It is, in fact, 
the training ground from which we pass to a higher 
conflict. The life we. live here determines the level to 
which we gravitate there." Critics, enemies and 
friends: The way is open — the Line of Despair or 
the Line of Victory may be apprehended by any intel- 
ligence of the present age, who cares to make the effort. 

Masonry teaches in a progressive dramatic initiation 
through its degrees : 

First: The Idea of One God — and this too in an- 
cient times when it was not only difficult but even dan- 
gerous to publicly declare spiritual truths. That is one 
reason for secrecy, and Christianity found it necessary 
to adopt the same safeguard in its early days, a matter 
already referred to by quotations from Bishop Hurst's 
w History of Christianity." 

Secondly: The Immortality of the Soul. The 
" On-going " life of the early Greek manuscripts. The 
conscious self-identity of the individual intelligence 
(Soul), independent of the physical body before as well 
as after death. This is now receiving the attention of 
science under the term introduced by Sir Oliver Lodge: 
" The Continuity of Life." Masons in all ages have 
had a profound knowledge of this problem, and that is 
why the New Testament is being interpreted in terms 



222 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

of biology instead of legal terms. It is now a matter 
of life in action, not blind belief and groundless faith. 

Thirdly: The Brotherhood of Man. On this 
principle, Masonry unites men of every creed, sect and 
opinion, and by teaching conduct or ethics as the basis 
of religion, it has preserved its unity through a suc- 
cession of ages. Take conduct or ethics away from 
religion per se or any of the numerous religions, and all 
other principles lose their effectiveness. 

Our caustic Lutheran critic cites the obligation of 
chastity in the degrees of Masonry, and ignoring the 
progressive character of the teaching through all de- 
grees, he makes the false charge that Masonry prac- 
tically licenses Masons to violate the chastity of any 
woman not related to a Mason. 

The obligation of chastity is inculcated in the second 
degree, by the symbolic teaching that " the square of 
virtue be the rule and guide of one's conduct in life." 

Again, our ignorant critic, he is not a Mason, does 
not know that the symbolic instruction of the first de- 
gree states, that, " the compasses teach us to circum- 
scribe our desires and keep our passions within due 
bounds with all mankind." 

The reverend gentleman either misrepresents to the 
point of being untruthful, or he does not know. Is he 
qualified to instruct anyone, being open to the charge 
either of prevaricator or ignoramus? 

With especial reference to Masonic symbolism, our 
self-constituted critic deals with it in a manner which, 
if his interpretations were the only possible ones to be 
made, would make it necessary for all clean-minded men 
to quit Masonry forthwith. On the contrary " tools 
and implements of architecture, and symbolic emblems 
most expressive, are selected by the Fraternity to im- 
print on the mind wise and serious truths." 

And the Phallic interpretation is the lowest construc- 
tion to be put upon any institution of man. Mr. Wag- 
ner thinks he is supported by ethnology and by evolu- 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 223 

tion, though he does not say so; his Phallic authorities 
take that view, however. 

Again, we say, if our Lutheran enemy accepts and 
believes the Phallic interpretation for Masonic symbol- 
ism, he cannot escape accepting the Phallic interpreta- 
tion for the symbols of his own religion. 

If he objects to the one he must renounce the other. 
If he would defend the Christian symbols from the 
Phallic and degraded interpretation, he thereby convicts 
himself of libeling Masonry, because he cannot defend 
the one without defending the other. If he did not 
know the range and application of Phallic interpreta- 
tions as including every sacred symbol of every religion, 
not excepting Christianity, then his plea is that of an 
ignorant fanatic, no more worthy of the confidence of 
his congregation, and unfitted to remain among the 
clergy of any religion or creed. 

THE LETTER G. 

On page 367: " While it [the letter G] is the initial 
of Geometry, of God, and of the Great Architect of the 
Universe, the sacred and mystic name of the Masonic 
deity, it [the letter G] symbolizes the generative princi- 
ple, and the initial of the work of emanation or genera- 
tion/' 

" The Hebrew Yod [ ' ] according to some high Ma- 
sonic authorities, means the same thing as the letter G. 
. . . When it occurs in Masonic emblems, it denotes the 
letter G, the masculine generative or fecundating prin- 
ciple." 

The foregoing is a libel on Masonry as well as our 
brethren the Jews, because it has reference to the sacred 
name of the Jews for Deity, about which on page 319 
Mr. Wagner says: "Jehovah is the Supreme Being, 
self -revealed, not the 'Supreme Being* of non-Chris- 
tian thinkers. He is God to me, for he is the object of 
my affection, service, worship, the supreme Good to me. 



224 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

He has redeemed me, saves me from sin, and will gra- 
ciously own me unto Himself." 

The all-inclusive definition of Jehovah by our Lu- 
theran critic opens the way for us to ask : Is Mr. Wag- 
ner prepared to accept the interpretation of Hebrew- 
authorities on the meaning and symbolism concealed in 
the mystic name Jehovah? 

The prophets ascribed the human form to God, but it 
was purely hieroglyphical. They considered God as the 
intelligent, living, loving, Infinite One, He was for the 
Ancient Hebrews, neither the collection of other beings, 
nor the abstraction of existence, nor a philosophical 
definable being. He is in all, distinct from all, and 
greater than all. His very name is ineffable ;' and yet 
the name only expresses the human ideal of His Divin- 
ity. Hence one cannot understand the New Testament 
unless he understands the construction put upon the 
Old Testament by the nation whose sacred book it was, 
and still is. 

The name Jehovah ( n 1 n "» ) is male-female (Mr. 
Wagner evidently cannot differentiate between gender 
and sex), because the letters of the Hebrew alphabet 
have not only gender but numerical values .as well. Ac- 
cording to ancient teachings Man and Woman are from 
creation co-equal and co-existent, because both are nec- 
essary to the future of the race. This fact the Christian 
translators of the Bible have been at great pains to con- 
ceal, by carefully suppressing every reference to the 
Feminine portion of Deity, and by constantly trans- 
lating feminine nouns by masculine ones. 

For instance, among the first words in the Bible, 
" God created," the word for God is Elohim. 

Elohim, a Hebrew word, is a feminine plural trans- 
lated by a masculine singular. And this is the work of 
so-called religious men. 

If our clerical critic means all that he says, he now 
has the opportunity to put into effect what he calls the 
" morality of language, that names shall honestly repre- 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 225 

sent things, and that words be used so as to express 
ideas of which they are the legitimjjtc signs." Page 
518 of his own book. 

In Masonry at a certain stage of the dramatic initia- 
tion of the candidate, his attention is directed to the 
letter G, which is the initial of Geometry. Then fol- 
lows the monitorial instruction which can be found in 
the Standard Masonic Monitor: "Geometry, the first 
and noblest of sciences, is the basis on which the su- 
perstructure of Freemasonry is erected. By Geometry 
we curiously trace nature through her various windings 
to her most concealed recesses. 

" By it we discover the power, the wisdom and the 
goodness of the Great Creator as the vast proportions 
of the universe are revealed to us. 

" By Geometry we learn how the planets move in 
their respective orbs and demonstrate their various rev- 
olutions. By it we account for the return of the sea- 
sons, and the variety of scenes which each season 
displays to the discerning eye. 

" Numberless worlds are around us, rolling through 
unlimited space, all framed by the same Divine Artist, 
and all conducted by the same unerring law of nature." 

The complete lesson is too long for further quotation. 
The lesson ends : " But, my brother, the letter G fur- 
ther alludes to the sacred name of God before whom all 
Masons with reverence most humbly bow." 

The teachings of Masonry are beautiful and are im- 
pressively given by one Mason to another. By father 
to son, by brother to brother, and relative to relative. 
Nowhere is any attempt made to lead the initiated of 
high or low degree into anything but the best moral and 
spiritual interpretations. If one will extend his read- 
ing along the lines laid down in the Masonic teachings, 
and look for the moral truths taught to all Masons, one 
will find more and more of real spiritual truth. We 
have been a student of Masonry for many years, and 
hoped to initiate our own father while Master of our 
lodge, but his death intervened. We have seen, during 



226 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

our term as Master of our lodge, a father confer the 
degrees upon his own son, and more impressive sight 
we have never witnessed. 



THE ALL SEEING EYE. 

Page 368 : " This is the symbol of the Masonic 
deity, and expresses the universal presence of the gen- 
erative principle in nature, especially as the male and 
female principles combined." 

Quite to the contrary, Masonry has this to say: 
" The All Seeing Eye, whom the Sun, Moon and Stars 
obey, and under whose watchful care even Comets per- 
form their stupendous revolutions, pervades the inmost 
recesses of the human heart, and will reward us accord- 
ing to our merits." Standard Masonic Monitor. 

This is a flat denial of our critic's views. Masonry 
teaches no such doctrines as he vainly imagines it does, 
but his own religion is not free from the very accusation 
he makes against Masonry. Let our ministerial critic 
now turn to figure 50 in Didron's " Christian Iconog- 
raphy " and see a " binary sexual " representation of 
Christ ; male-female as in Sancta-Sophia. " This," says 
Gerald Massey, Vol. II, page 717, " Ancient Egypt the 
Light of the World," " was the mystical Divine male- 
female of the Gnosis." Now let our Lutheran critic 
turn to that encyclopaedia to Phallicism, Forlong's 
" Rivers of Life," Vol. 2, page 566, and note what 
Gladstone had to say on this very subject. 

Personally, we do not believe that spiritual truths have 
come up through the muck of Phallicism; on the con- 
trary, they come from the mountain tops of spiritual 
development, and are degraded in the onward march of 
time. Again and again must some soldier of the truth 
rescue them from vile, interpretations. This we propose 
to do, however inadequately, and while we may quote 
Phallic authority for the Phallic view of Christianity, 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 227 

we shall later show the deeper spiritual significance of 
the Christian symbols. 

THE SUN. 

Page 369: "These irradiations in Freemasonry do 
not symbolize the glory of God as they do in Christian 
symbolism, but the generative and creative activities of 
the Masonic God, the Great Architect of the Universe/' 

Masonry does not teach anything of the kind, but 
says of the Sun — " As the Sun rules the day, and the 
Moon governs the night, so should the Master govern 
his Lodge with equal regularity." 

But our clerical critic forces the Phallic view by in- 
terpolating a totally different teaching — as he throws 
down the gauntlet, we pick it up, and challenge him to 
defend his own religion from the charges of Paganism 
and Phallicism. 

As a Mason we deny Mr. Wagner's argument in 
toto. 

Furthermore the following criticism of Christianity 
is quoted to indicate that Mr. Wagner has some work 
to attend to quite near at home. When he has success- 
fully accomplished the task herein implied, we can keep 
him busy for a long time explaining and defending the 
teaching of his own religion, without misrepresenting 
good men and true by falsely reading into Freemasonry, 
the same degrading interpretations as have been made 
in regard to everything sacred known to man. 

Forlong, Vol. 2, page 580 : " The Christian Druses 
preserve, says Captain Conder, ' The rites of the Gnos- 
tics, to whom Sun worship was familiar/ and as the 
Gnostics were the first Christians, in fact the only sect 
we know anything authentic of during the first 150 years 
or so a. d., we see what Christianity grew from, for the 
Gnostics being nearest the fountain head, should have 
known best the doctrines and practices of the founders 
of the faith." . . . 



228 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

" It is not easy to move out of the old ways or for- 
sake the ancient forms and symbols, and truly did 
Faustus say to Augustine : * You have but substituted 
your Agapae (love feasts) for the sacrifices of the 
Pagans; for their idols, your martyrs, whom you serve 
with the same honors. You appease the shades of the 
dead with wine and feasts ; you celebrate the solemnities 
of the Gentiles, their Kalends, their Solstices; and as to 
their manners, those you have retained without altera- 
tion, and nothing distinguishes you from the Pagans, 
except that you hold your assemblies apart from them.' 
Now Faustus was an African Christian bishop, who 
flourished in 400, and knew the truth when he thus wrote 
describing Christianity." 

THE CIRCLE. 

Page 380 : "■ The circle, also called a compass, is a 
very prominent and essential symbol in Masonry. . . . 
The whole truth is not given. The fact is that the cir- 
cle in the ancient religions and in the mysteries, as now 
established by monumental and arch(Eological evidence, 
was a Phallic symbol. . . . The Masonic circle with 
point in the center is a remnant of this Phallic symbol- 
ism. . . . The evidence is overwhelming and conclusive 
that among the Egyptians, Greeks, Assyrians, Phryg- 
ians, and the ancients generally, the circle was the sym- 
bol of the female principle in nature/' 

We have already alluded to the teaching that in Ma> 
sonry the " compasses teach us to circumscribe our de- 
sires and keep our passions within due bounds with all 
mankind." 

" The point in the circle represents the individual 
Brother Mason, and the circle the boundary line beyond 
which he is never to suffer his prejudices or passions 
to betray him." But in the quotation from Mr. Wag- 
ner's book, anyone can see how he twists and warps 
everything to suit his nefarious purpose — and our 
critic is a follower of the Man of Sorrows. 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 229 

Mr. Wagner insists that "the circle is Phallic, that it 
represents the female principle in nature, and is the sym- 
bol for woman." 

Pherycides, one of the seven wise men, said : " For 
God is indeed the circle." 

Mr. Wagner gives us no authority for his sweeping 
assertions as to the overwhelming evidence in favor of 
a Phallic meaning to the symbol of the circle. He leads 
the unwary to believe there is no other interpretation 
possible. 

In the Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, the circle 
bounded by two parallel lines, denotes the Will of man, 
that power by which he is enabled to choose between 
conflicting desires and mount onward and upward to 
the glorious heights of spiritual achievement, as witness 
the inspiring teachings of old Egypt and India. 

Christianity's debt to so-called Paganism is attested 
in the following quotations : 

Lundy's " Monumental Christianity," page 87 : " But 
how shall the human mind form any just and adequate 
conception of God, or give it expression? This was, 
and it still is, the problem with such as do not receive 
Christianity as a Divine revelation. In ancient times 
the circle was the symbol of the eternal, invisible and 
infinite God, among the Hindus, Persians, and Egyp- 
tians. Early Christian Art retained the symbol, but 
always around her Lord or some type of Him." 

Lundy's " Monumental Christianity," page 401 : " I 
devote this concluding chapter to the honor and glory 
of the Good Shepherd, herewith presented in a most 
unusual manner. Only His Pagan type, Orpheus, is so 
depicted as in the frontispiece. And this combination 
of circle, square and octagon, must have some meaning 
beyond the purpose of mere adornment. The two trees, 
each with only three branches, like the Hindu tree of all 
existence, and like Buddha's tree of Nirvana, and like 
Krishna's tree of Incarnation, must also have some sig- 
nificance. The original fresco is in the old cemetery of 



230 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

Marcellinus and Peter, here reproduced from Bosio. It 
most probably belongs to the second century, or early 
part of the third. The Pagan Pan's pipe is in the hand 
of the Good Shepherd, he wears the royal cloak of Jupi- 
ter, as seen in figure 178. Hence I have ventured to 
call this the Royal Good Shepherd, King of heaven and 
earth. He rules over all in both spheres of existence 
in virtue of His Incarnation. And this is indicated by 
the circle, square and octagon. The circle is the symbol 
of God and the heavenly or eternal world, the square is 
this world, as including the Church, otherwise figured 
as Noah's square box; and the octagon is the union or 
combination of both in the Incarnation of Christ as God 
and man, as heavenly and earthly. The two trees, in 
contradistinction from the one tree of Paganism indi- 
cate knowledge and life — Divine illumination and spir- 
ituality, proceeding from God as a Triad of persons, and 
existing in man's intellect, will and affections, and pro- 
ducing Faith, Hope and Charity." 

Mr. Wagner says the square and the circle are purely 
phallic; Masonry says they are universal symbols teach- 
ing valuable lessons to the open minded, and tend to 
confuse the evil minded persons of shallow power of 
comprehension. 

THE TRIANGLE. 

Page 383 : " In Christian symbolism the triangle is 
a symbol of the Holy Trinity/' 

Of course by this time the reader is aware that Mr. 
Wagner introduces his material only to sooner or later 
damn Masonry and the ancient religions by a wholesale 
charge of " Phallic Symbolism " — As to the Trinity, 
it has been used in the form of a triangle on Christian 
monuments, and yet the triangle, according to Mr. Wag- 
ner, is also of Phallic significance. 

Lundy's " Monumental Christianity," page 91 : " As 
the Hindus had both a male and a female Trinity, so 
the triangle was the symbol of triune co-equality; when 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 231 

the apex of the triangle pointed up, the whole trinity 
is designated, and when it pointed down the female is 
meant. When these two triangles intersect each other 
so as to make six points, the union of the two deities 
or trinities is intended. In other words, the triangle 
pointing up denotes the male principle or active power 
of creation, as fire ; and the triangle pointing down, de- 
notes the female principle, or passive power of creation, 
as water; or the Sun and Moon; heaven and earth, etc. 

" Early Christianity was extremely cautious about the 
use of any symbols on account of her secret disci- 
pline; and so far as I know, only one or two instances 
of the triangle on her monuments occur. One of these 
is on the corner of a gravestone with the Christian 
monogram inscribed, and found in the cemetery of 
Priscilla. It is given on the next page, figure 28. The 
other I find in my note-book, copied from the Christian 
side of the lapidarian Gallery of the Vatican, and is the 
union of the two triangles. These doubtless both refer 
to the Trinity, and the Abbot J. Gaume cites an early 
inscription in which the belief in God the Father, God 
the Son, and God the Holy Spirit is especially recorded. 

The doctrine of the Trinity is found in all religions. 
But it is not, even at this late day, understood, else why 
these honest words from " The New Theology " by 
R. J. Campbell, M.A., Minister of the City Temple, 
London, England. Chapter 5, pages 72-73 : 

" I think even the Athanasian creed is a magnificent 
piece of work if only the churches would consent to 
understand it in terms of the oldest theology of all ! 
But, according to conventional theology, the second per- 
son in the Trinity, who was co-equal and co-eternal with 
God the Father, laid aside His Glory, became incarnate 
for our salvation, was born of a virgin, lived a brief 
suffering life, wrought many miracles, died a shameful 
death, rose again from the tomb on the second morning 
after He had been laid in it, and ascended into heaven 
in full view of His wondering disciples. In fulfillment 
of a promise made by Him shortly before the crucifix- 



232 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

ion, and repeated before the ascension, He and the 
Father conjointly sent the third person in the Trinity 
to endue with power from on high the simple men whose 
duty it now became to proclaim the gospel of salvation 
to the world. Jesus is now on the throne of His glory, 
but sooner or later He will come again to wind up the 
present dispensation and to be the Judge of the quick 
and the dead at a grand assize. 

" There is a sense in which all this is true, but it is 
commonly expressed in such a way that the truth is lost 
sight of. Literally understood it is incredible.' , 

Here again we would suggest that our Lutheran 
friend attend to duties nearer at home; and not wander 
forth for new worlds to conquer when his own Kingdom 
needs all the thought, and all the effort of its votaries 
to find the truth, that truth which " can hurt no one " 
and which the Master said would " set us free." 

The foregoing extracts are quite sufficient to fairly 
represent the argument of Mr. Wagner against Ma- 
sonry together with our rejoinder. 

Let us now pass in review the Christian symbols, 
and indicate how better qualified students of Phalli- 
cism than our Lutheran critic have dragged them down 
to the same low level chosen by him as humiliating to 
Masonry. It will be necessary to show the Pagan and 
the Phallic side of Christian symbols; but we shall en- 
deavor to indicate in at least a few, the deeper meaning 
as presaging a spiritual significance in them all. 

" History of the Christian Church " by Philip Schaff, 
Union Theological Seminary, 1883, Vol. 2, page 273: 
" The following symbols borrowed from the Scriptures, 
were frequently represented in the catacombs, and re- 
late to the virtues and duties of Christian life. The 
dove, with or without the olive branch, the type of sim- 
plicity and innocence; the ship, representing sometimes 
the Church, as safely sailing through the flood of cor- 
ruption, with reference to Noah's Ark, sometimes the 
individual soul on its voyage to the heavenly home under 
the conduct of the storm controlling Saviour; the palm 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 233 

branch, which the seer of the Apocalypse puts into the 
hands of the elect, as a sign of victory; the anchor, the 
figure of hope; the lyre, denoting festal joy and sweet 
harmony; the cock, an admonition to watchfulness, with 
reference to Peter's fall ; the hart, which stands for the 
fresh water brooks; and the vine, which, with its 
branches and clusters, illustrates the union of the Chris- 
tians with Christ according to the parables, and the 
richness and joyfulness of Christian life." 

All of the foregoing Christian symbols have been in- 
terpreted by authorities on Phallic worship as having 
originated in sex cults of old. Their deeper spiritual 
significance, long anterior to the Christian era, has been 
lost in the rubbish of " interpretation." — Live the life 
and the doctrine unfolds during the development of the 
Soul of Man. But it makes all the difference in the 
world as to the kind of a life to live. So also will the 
interpretation disclose the fact. 

THE cross. 

Forlong, Vol. 2, 447 : " The cross has been used from 
very ancient times in connection and rather phalikly 
so. with the planets." 

Forlong, Vol. 2, page 558: "The nails though ap- 
propriated to Christ are old Sivak emblems, as we have 
elsewhere shown in the case of Maltese and Etrurian 
crosses, and see Dr. Inman's ' Pagan and M. C. Symbol- 
ism,' pages 35, 53, 86, 101 and 134. Some races fa- 
vored the four nails and four yoni ideas, but Christians 
preferred the Trinitarian form, as Sivaites do in the 
Tri-sul ('three nails') of their Lord." 

Forlong, Vol. 2, page 252 : " Human sacrifice was 
a holy rite of great virtue, and to impale or crucify the 
victim, especially if a criminal or heretic to the Faith, 
on a pole, cruciform or hooked shape — all equally 
phallic — was a sacrifice to the God." 

The deeper symbolism of Masonry, to which our Lu- 
theran critic objects, would say that the Cross has, 



234 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

from time immemorial, been the sign of the spiritual 
development of the individual intelligence or Soul of 
Man. 

In beginning a life of personal effort to do that which 
the individual thinks is right, according to his accumu- 
lated knowledge and checked by his past experience ; 
the cross bar is at the foot of the upright standard. 
Every phallic authority sees in every vertical line, a 
male sex element; and in every horizontal line a female 
sex element. But here, no such degraded idea is con- 
sidered, the individual soon discovers obstructions to 
" living the life " ; he must overcome fear, hatred, anger, 
a weak will, and wrong desires. As he is able to over- 
come these obstructions, the cross-bar, symbolically 
speaking, gradually rises upward. When it reaches 
the three-quarter mark from the bottom, it is the Cross 
in the form as we know it. The sign of a " Son of 
God." 

When it reaches the top, as in the old Egyptian Tau 
— it is the Sign of "the new. life" shared with the im- 
mortals. 

THE DOVE. 

Forlong, Vol. 2, 305, " The reader has seen that the 
Bird is a favorite emblem of the Phallos, the creating 
spirit or procreative idea. In ancient and Christian 
sacred writ, the Holy Spirit is commonly known as that 
most amorous of birds, the Dove, and Mary is portrayed 
as impregnated by this bird — lee the many coarse but 
famous pictures of the scene, especially the Venetian 
one on page 304 of my previous volume." 

Had the Fathers of the Church been desirous of per- 
petuating the truth they could have learned that, in old 
India, the bird is a symbol of the Spiritual nature of 
man, and has the feminine gender applied to it, not fe- 
male sex, but gender. The Holy Ghost is -derived from 
this old symbol and was referred to by Jesus as " His 
Mother." 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 235 

THE OLIVE. 

Forlong, Vol. 2, page 608: "The Mount of Olives 
is famed for divers phalik euphemisms. It is crowned 
with a round church in a round courtyard, under which 
is a sacred cave, and is by far the highest point all 
around. . . . According to a Targum, from this holy 
mount, the lone or Arkite Dove plucked the olive leaf 
which announced recurring joy and fertility; and from 
the olive trees of Elaion were gathered the boughs and 
leaves to form the Tabernacles of the revelers and the 
' booths ' for the courtesans who annually assembled at 
the autumnal festivals to elaborate the Venus rites, as 
queen of all the fruits, and especially of the Olive." 

Space does not permit of extended statements. As 
a Mason, we reject the Phallic interpretation, and prefer 
that view of symbolism which the Rev. E. V. Knealey 
states, viz. : 

" The olive tree indicates the pure and peaceful prin- 
ciples preached by Lao-Tseu and Jesus/' 

Symbolism extends beyond the reach of any language 
now extant ; like everything else in the world it has suf- 
fered degradation and a varied interpretation at the 
hands of time-servers and scoffers. But to those who 
have failed to discover the message of the Great School 
of Spiritual Endeavor, it matters little. To those who 
have discovered that message, carping critics are of pass- 
ing interest. That message, in part, is : " All knowl- 
edge that has no direct bearing upon our daily lives is 
an encumbrance and not an acquirement." 

The spiritual intuitions of men have been the true 
guides toward selecting the kind of knowledge for use 
in making the ethical and spiritual interpretations of 
the symbols of old. Masonry has, in its symbolism, pre- 
served the ethical teachings of all religions of old, and 
therein lies its strength for all time. 



236 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 



THE PALM. 

Forlong, Vol. 2, 512: "Anciently used in all sexual 
phalik symbolism, for they used it in all sexual and solar 
rites as at nuptial fetes; and Christians not only in this 
followed them and other phalik worshipers, but intensified 
the idea by occasionally hanging their phalik Alpha and 
Omega on this sacred tree, which they then formed into 
a cross as here seen." Fig. 330. To say that this is 
the only way to look at the symbol of the Palm, grossly 
insults the Jew, and the Christians, too. But it shows 
again that one must be careful how he uses phallic data 
as a weapon. It is a two edged sword and cuts both 
ways. 

The lack of an exact language in ancient times made 
it necessary to use symbols to represent the abstract in 
terms of the concrete. The Palm is an old symbol in 
India, Egypt, Greece and Rome. Because the Palm was 
supposed to rise under a weight, and to thrive in pro- 
portion to its being depressed — it was taken as a sym- 
bol of immortality, in the sense as used by Timothy — 
" Fight the good fight and lay hold on eternal (ongoing) 
life." The sprig of Acacia is used to symbolize and il- 
lustrate this very teaching in Masonry. 

THE COCK. 

Forlong, Vol. 2, page 87 : " ' It would appear/ says 
Mr. Layard, ' that this bird was either worshiped by 
the Babylonians, or by some neighboring nation, or that 
it was sacrificed as in Greece on the celebration of cer- 
tain religious ceremonies/ all of which conjectures are 
true; the symbolism has continued down into the Chris- 
tian faith, and we see it still in the worship of the Malek 
Taus, Fig. V, which Mr. Layard describes to us as pre- 
vailing among the Yezidis, an Arab tribe of whom many 
are Christians, spread all over Mesopotamia; he says 
this may be continued with the old Cock worship, and 
it clearly is so with that of the Boodhist Hensa or mythic 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 237 

goose which we find still enduring all over the East . . . 
it is a Boodhist type of Vishnoo's goose which was sent 
to awaken Brahma when ' he rested ' as Elohim did after 
his ' six days of creative energy/ " 

The Cock is an ancient Sun symbol. But what of 
the Sun as a Symbol? Symbolically, the Sun as the 
light of the day, is Consciousness in man. The Moon 
which reflects the light of the Sun, in ancient symbolism, 
is the mind. Dr. Buck in his " Study of Man," a book 
it would profit our critic to studiously read, says : 
" Mind is the theater in which consciousness displays 
itself." Just another, a modern or scientific way of 
stating the old teachings. Let those of our readers who 
are inclined to accept Mr. Wagner's vile interpretations 
get some of the books from which he quotes and make 
an independent investigation, after which we are con- 
tent to let them judge for themselves. 

THE SHIP OR ARK. 

Forlong, Vol. I, page 109: "In this figure 36 from 
(Inman's) Ancient Faiths, we see clearly the whole idea; 
the Rainbow as El's sign ' overshadows ' the Ark, the 
sign of Ishtar; and the Holy Ghost, Rauch or Breath, 
which is the fecundating principle or medium, hovers 
betwixt Bow and Ark. The Jewish writings say, that, 
Elohe's Spirit built this navis, and placed in it the Noh 

— and all life ; and afterwards closed its one small win- 
dow, and then rained on it for forty days the fertiliz- 
ing waters of heaven. It contained, we are told, all 
the elements of Elohim's creative power, and in due time, 
about nine months and three days from the ceasing of 
the rains, ' Noah removed the covering of the Ark,' and 
then came forth the pent up energies of Maiya ; her 
symbol the dove, with the Mystic olive sacred to her, 
marshaled the way, and pointed to Nature's first birth 

— the mountain peaks." 

Going more deeply into the symbolism, the " ark is 
an old symbolic name for the Holy Spirit. Parkhurst 



238 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

in his Greek Lexicon, though he has omitted it in the 
Hebrew, where it ought to be found, says 'ARXN' 
in this application answers to the Hebrew rasit or Wis- 
dom; and what word could be so proper as that which 
in the language of the Western world was unknown, 
but which (word) had the meaning of the female gen- 
erative power (not sex organs) the Arg or Area, in 
which the germ of all nature was supposed to float or 
brood in the great abyss, during the interval which took 
place after every mundane cycle." Rev. E. V. Knealey 
" Book of God," page 9. 

The Holy Spirit in ancient symbolry was the ship of 
life that bore over the ocean of the infinite the germs 
of all being, and God was the ruling force. The cres- 
cent or boat shaped moon was by the common people 
used as an emblem of the Holy Spirit. Hence in the 
Hindu Litany of our Lady Nari ; in the Egyptian Litany 
of our Lady Isis; and in the Roman Catholic Litany 
of the Blessed Virgin Mary — all are called either Queen 
or Gate of Heaven. There is a brotherhood of reli- 
gions, as well as a brotherhood of man, but the bigoted, 
and creed bound will never be able to discover that Ari- 
adne's thread running through them all until they look 
for agreement instead of disagreement in their teachings. 

THE LYRE. 

Lundy's " Monumental Christianity," page 187 : "I 
now pass to a consideration of Orpheus as that more 
special Pagan type of Christ, more than once used in 
the Christian Catacombs at Rome. On comparing the 
Pagan composition (Fig. 83), herewith presented, with 
the frontispiece of this work, it will be seen how 
closely the Christian artist has copied and improved a 
Pagan original. The Octagon (surrounding the figure 
of Orpheus) as the symbol of the union of heaven and 
earth, the Divine and the human in peace and harmony 
— means about the same thing as that of the two tri- 
angles, viz. : the active and passive powers of life in 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 239 

Conjuncture. Orpheus is seated — playing his lyre with 
both hands. . . ." 

The Lyre, the Greek letter Omega Q reversed, with 
lines drawn across it, is the old hieroglyph meaning 
virgin. Like the Sistrum in Egypt, an emblem of a 
virgin. But there again we find another emblem of the 
Holy Spirit ; and the Pagan Apollo with the Lyre in 
his hand signified not only that he was the bearer of 
heavenly music, but that he was under the protection 
of the Sacred and Immaculate Virgin. That is why the 
old pagan Apollo is used as a type of Christ on the monu- 
ments and church frescoes of the early years of Chris- 
tianity. The teaching of Pythagoras is " Do not be as- 
tonished at the outburst of any immoderate passion." 
The teaching of Masonry is " Learn to subdue the pas- 
sions " because Self-control is necessary to all who 
would grow in spiritual knowledge. 

THE VINE. 

Forlong, Vol. I, 272 : " The Vine, as sacred to Bac- 
chus and Dionysus, was called Ampee." Also on page 
78 : * If Nebukadnezer likened himself to the central 
tree of the whole earth, whose height reached into 
heaven, which was fair to look upon, and whose fruits 
and protection all the birds and beasts of earth sought, 
but which was, he foresaw, reduced to a mere Lingam 
— a stump sunk into the tender grass of the earth, and 
bound with brass and iron; — so did Christ ask that his 
followers should look upon Him as the Vine-tree, and 
themselves as the branches; and so has Europe, like 
more ancient peoples, connected the (phallic) ideas of 
the Cross and the Tree." 

We venture to state that our caustic critic does not 
accept the Phallic interpretation of the symbol of the 
Vine. In Judges, Chap, ix, 13, we read, " And the 
Vine said unto them, shall I leave my wine, which cheer- 
eth God and Man?" 



240 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

We must conclude that the Vine and Wine are sym- 
bols of truth; we cannot suppose that God is cheered 
by Wine of any other sort. These are mystical terms 
frequently used by Jesus, see John xv and Luke xii. 
The mysteries of the Kingdom of God were not for 
everyone. Read Acts ii, 8, 9, 10, 1 1, where men of all 
nations heard in their own tongues the truths of their 
own religion. 

Those truths constitute the sacred bond binding all 
religions to the throne of Truth. That is the Secret 
Doctrine, efforts to destroy which in all ages have left 
the Great Orphan Humanity to demand Spiritual truths 
from those who have them not. The ethics of all re- 
ligions are the same and in our heart of hearts we now 
look upon action or conduct as the test of creeds and 
not the theological opinions of those who expound them. 

In the foregoing, reference to a Phallic interpretation 
of Christian symbols, is noted simply to show that Ma- 
sonry is not the only institution to come under the ban 
of Phallic origin and nature. We have not exhausted 
the subject, and our critic needs only to extend his read- 
ing to include his own religion, instead of stopping at 
what seemed to blacken and to damn Masonry. 

Symbolism is a language common to all peoples and 
all religions. That is, certain emblems are used which 
convey to the mind of an individual definite ideas. 

The musical notation is symbolic, read by English, 
German, French, Italian, Philippino, etc., and each using 
his own language for the names of the notes. 

Arabic numbers are symbols, each number carrying 
an exact idea, always the same. But speak the name of 
it, and one who does not know that particular language, 
is at a loss, until the symbol for the word is shown to 
him. 

So too, the meaning of a symbol is definite and car- 
ries the same idea to all who know symbolism. 

The identity of religious symbols proves the unity of 
all religions. The symbols of Christianity are found 



MASONRY AND ITS MESSAGE 241 

the world over, or rather world wide symbols are found 
in Christianity. That is why Max Miiller said : " He 
who knows only one religion, knows none." 

We cannot understand a thing where we first meet 
with it. In this way we learn of truth by a study of 
symbolism and so recover past knowledge that has a 
bearing on our present needs. 

In all symbols there is at heart a spiritual truth, and 
he who can appreciate the words of the Master " the 
truth can hurt no one, the truth shall make you free," 
can bring out of symbols, fables, and myths, that truth 
which shall strengthen man's belief in spiritual realities, 
and place his feet upon the road which shall lead to a 
real knowledge of that which is now but dimly discerned. 

Masonic symbolism has thus carried on truth from 
age to a^e, and is its witness for the existence of a knowl- 
edge by which the individual may convert those intuitive 
convictions which we denominate faith into a personal 
experience by which he may achieve the victory that 
shall earn for him the title " Son of God " according to 
the teaching of St. John. 

In all times the undying savage in the soul of man 
has been quick to revive and to reassert the worst inter- 
pretations for sacred things. Spiritual philosophies die 
and decay, and in their twilight the most degrading and 
the rudest creeds, polytheism, fetishism, mystic mum- 
mery and Phallic worship again and again reappear. 
They creep out from the imaginings of bewildered 
souls, as in the time of the materialistic Priest-Kings of 
old ; or as in the lofty spiritual teachings of the Vedas 
degraded by a Selfish Priesthood to the ritual rubbish 
of the Brahmanas, or as in the witch-trials of the Mid- 
dle and Modern Ages. Man can never be certain that 
he has expelled the savage from his temples and from 
his heart, unless the Will has been installed as the Mas- 
ter of the Lodge within ; yet even the lowest known sav- 
ages, in hours of awe and of need, lift their hands and 
their thoughts to their Great Father, and to ours, who 



242 SYMBOLIC TEACHING 

is not far from any one of us. For in Mr. Wagner's 
own words : "Revelation as an act, is God manifesting 
himself to man's consciousness/' 

SO MOTE IT BE. 



INDEX 



INDEX 



Ages, conflict of the, 18, 31 

Allegiance, Oath to the U. S., 
124 

Ammonius Saccus, 6; obliga- 
tion of, 7 ; ethics, 8 

Ancient Civilization, 1 ; Mas- 
onry, its message, 1 ; Mas- 
onry, clews to, 4; Modern 
thought, and, 4; Masonry 
candidate in, 5 ; Mysteries, 6, 
17, 23, 25, 40, 42 ; Landmarks, 
27 

Apostasy due to the Church 
and not to Masonry, 216, 219 

Architecture, 80, 151 

Aristophanes, 43 

Aristotle on the mysteries, 45 

Athanasian creed not under- 
stood, 231 

Athenagoras, 5 

Atlantis, the lost, 160 

Atonement, failure of, 176 

Author's experience, 84 

Bible, revised version and in- 
fallibility, 180 ; texts vs. pre- 
Christian teachings, 188 

Books to read, 25, 106 

Browning, " Man is not Man," 
21 

Buck, J. D., Mystic Masonry, 
40; Study of Man, 141 

Buddha, 8; Virgin Born Savior 
of Buddhists, 91 ; and the 
symbol of Spiritual progress, 

l V 

Buried Continents, 155 
Byron, 26 

Cambodia, Nagon-Wot Temple, 
3 



Candidate in Ancient Masonry, 
5 

Cardinals and Social Prece- 
dence, 123 

Catholic Hierarchy opposed (?) 
to Secrecy, 61, 62, 63, 64; vs. 
Despotism, 78, 120; to make 
America Catholic, 109; So- 
cieties, Federation of, 115; 
Hierarchy says : " To Hell 
with the government of the 
U. S.," 127; Church cursed 
by a fanatical preacher, 127; 
Hierarchy and our remedy, 
128 

Celsus, 9 

Champollion, 2 

Chrishna, see Krishna 

Christ, see Jesus 

Christian, three degrees, 6, 60, 
61-64; early, a secret order, 
6, 29, 60, 174; Christian Sci- 
ence, 13 ; and pre-Christian 
teachings, 188 

Christianity, its antecedents, 9; 
and the Trinity, 9, 20, 96, 
203; early led astray, 60; not 
false but falsified, 187; its 
needs, 198 

Church Fathers vs. Secrecy, 59 

Church vs. State, 114, 115, 120, 
121 

Cicero on the Mysteries, 43 

Cincinnati Masonic Study 
School, 36; Constitution and 
By-laws, 37 

Civilization, ancient, 1; Laby- 
rinth, 1 ; Karnak, 1 ; Civilized 
vs. Savage Man, 145 

Columbus, 103 

Clemens, 5, 42-60 



245 



246 



INDEX 



Commandments, Christian and 

pre-Christian, 189 
Conflict of the Ages, 18, 31 
Confucius, 8 
Consciousness, 140 
Copernicus, 102 
Council of Nice, 29 
Creed, test of a, 215 ; of Athan- 

asias not understood, 231 
Crucifix invented in seventh 

century, 29 
Cyril, the Saint, 10 

Death, can it be overcome, 181, 

185 
Deluge of the Bible, 165 
Descartes, 103 

Despotism vs. Liberty, 67, 78 
Dew of Hermon, 100 
Divine right of Kings, 24, 67 
Divorce, 126 
Duncan, Professor, 13 

Elohim translated God, 224 

Education and Masonry, 55, 67, 
82, 83; the Public Schools 
and Rome, 109, 121 ; meaning 
of, 136 

Egypt, Labyrinth, 1; Karnak, 
2; Thebes, 2; Obelisk, and 
Masonic Symbols, 74; Osiris, 
the Virgin born Savior, 90 ; a 
symbol in, 169 ; " My God, 
my Son how Thou dost glor- 
ify me," 186 ; Virgin Mother, 
190 ; Virgin born Savior, 192- 
199; Trinity, 196 

Essenes, 6 

Evolution, 138; vs. Spiritual 
progress, 169 

Faith, 19; vs. Science, 71 

Five steps, 79 

Flood, the Biblical account of 

the, 165; legends of other 

peoples, 167 
Freedom of thought, 67, 70 
Freemasonry defined (see 

Masonry), 72 



Galileo, 103 

Gavel, 208 

Gnostics, Gnosis, the, 54 

God, as universal mind, 8; Son 

of God vs. Son of Man, 172; 

vs. Elohim, 224 
Goethe, 22, 137 
"Great Work" as a book, 93, 

220, 221 ; defined by Albert 

Pike, 95; Is it a Masonic 

Book? 93 
Guardians of Liberty, 115, 117 

Hermes, 7; and the Trinity, 9, 
202; Hermetic Axiom, 138; 
Hermetic Teachings, 170 

Heaven, 182 

Holy Ghost, 234 

Human Sacrifices, 49 

Hypatia, 10 

Iamblichus, 5, 75, 169 
"I am I," 24 
Immaculate Conception, 29 
Immortality, 22, 81, 94, 133, 181 
India, 13; Masonry in, 50; 
Krishna, the Virgin born 
Savior of, 90; Virgin Moth- 
er, 190; Virgin born Savior^ 
192; Trinity, 196 
Initiation, 27 

Jacob's Ladder, 101 
Jehovah " converted," 223 
Jesus, his real mission, 7 ; to 
understand him, 8; taught a 
secret doctrine, 59; the first 
great initiate for the West- 
ern world, 91 ; referred to by 
Josephus, 174; referred to by 
T. K., 218; and the resurrec- 
tion, 180; his theme, 180; his 
mission, 184 ; " My God, Why 
Hast Thou Forsaken Me?" 
185 
Josephus' interpolated passage, 
174 

Kabalah "to receive," 33 



INDEX 



247 



Karnak, 2 

Knowledge, real, 21 ; is power, 

82; pursuit of, 135 
Krishna, Virgin born Savior of 

India, 90 

Lamb skin, 20 

Lemuria, 157 

Liberty vs. Despotism, 67; 
Guardians of, 115 

Labyrinth, 1 

Lodge, Sir Oliver, 13 

Loyalty, one brand of, no, 113 

Luther's Letters to Women, 
210; misjudgment of Epistle 
of St. James, 220 

Lutheran Minister's Vile At- 
tack on Masonry, 204; Minis- 
ter a Grand Commander, 213 

Mackey, 16 

Marriage Laws, 125 

Man's Value, 129; Man civi- 
lized vs. savage, 145; Son of 
vs. Son of God, 172 

Masonry, Message of Ancient, 
1, 80; Clews to, 4; candidate 
in Ancient, 5 ; Message of 
old, 8; message lost, 11; re- 
gained, 12; and higher Evolu- 
tion of Man, 15 ; and worldly 
wealth and honor, 20; m In- 
dia, 50; and education, 55; 
vs. Papal Rome, 58-60; def- 
inition of, 72, 93, 95 ; relig- 
ious but not a religion, 73; 
origin of, 73, 74 et seq., 96; 
fundamental teachings of, 76, 
81, 221 ; operative and specu- 
lative, 77 ; as it is sometimes, 
85 ; our duty to, 107 ; attacked 
by Lutheran Minister, 204 

Master Man, 21, 27; Master's 
Salutatory, 54; Masters of 
old, 88 

Mendeleef's septiform law, 34 

Miles, Gen. Nelson A., 115 

Mind, 140 

Modern vs. Ancient thought, 4 



Modernism, 102 

Morality vs. Rome, 69 

Mosheim, 7 

Mivller, Max, 6 

"My God, Why Hast Thou 

Forsaken Me?" 185 
Mysteries, 6; true Ancient, 17, 

40; greater and lesser, 25, 40; 

object of, 42 

Nagon-Wot temple, 3 
Neo-Platonists, 6-7 
New Thought, 13 
Nicea Council of, 29, 200 
Numa, 15 

Numbers, seven, 33 ; five, 79 ; 
three, 78 

Obelisk and Masonic Symbols, 

74, 214 
Operative mason, 77 
Osiris, the Virgin Born Savior 

of Egypt, 90 
Oath of Allegiance to the U. S., 

124 

Pantaenetus, 5 

Parochial Schools, teach, 112 

Paul vs. Secret Teachings, 59 

Personal effort, 98 

Pre-Christian Teachings, 188 

Pope Leo XIII, no, 112, 116, 
118, 1 19-122, 125-126, 131; vs. 
Bishop of Newport, 131; 
Pope Paul IV 

Pope Clement V and Masonry, 
60 

Phallic worship, 51 ; is relig- 
ion degraded, 87; interpreta- 
tion applied to Masonry, 205 ; 
interpretation applied to 
Christianity, 205-215 

Philosophy, 208 

Pike, Sir Albert, as Master of 
Wisdom, 28 

Plato, 2, 5, 8, 35, 42 

Power, balance of, 13 

Proclus on the mysteries, 42 



248 



INDEX 



Public Schools and Rome, 109, 

121 
Pythagoras, 5, 8, 66, 75 

Rawlinson and origin of relig- 
ion, 30 

Religion, basis of, 6; one and 
same truth in all, 7, 84; vs. 
Masonry, 73, 76, 207 ; de- 
fined, 208; spiritual origin of, 
87 ; a cloak for Rome in poli- 
tics, 114; he who knows only 
one knows none, 188 

Renen, 9, 175 

Revelation, 242 

Roman College of Artificers, 

15, 73 
Rome vs. Masonry, 58-60; op- 
posed (?) to Secrecy, 61-62, 
63-64; dominates the will of 
others, 68, 120; and morality, 
69, 122; and modern prog- 
ress, 102-104; not able to con- 
trol all her priests, 104-105; 
and our Public Schools. 109; 
in Politics, 114, 116, 120; says 
"To Hell with the Govern- 
ment of the U. S.," 127; 
cursed by a fanatical Preach- 
er, 127; "What are we to do 
about it," 128 

Sacrifice, human vs. a real, 49- 

53 

Savage vSv civilized man, 145 

Saviors Virgin born, 90, 98, 
192, 190; two accounts of in 
Gospel, 178 > 

School (see Cincinnati Masonic 
Study School) ; the public 
and Rome, 109; Parochial, 
112 

Science, 208 _ 

Secret teachings. Christian, ^ 6, 
29, 64, 174; of Ammonius 
Saccus, 7, meetings Roman 
College of Artificers, 15; 
Doctrine back of all relig- 
ions, 30, 76, 80, 84 ; Initiation, 



very old, 41; and Public 
teachings, 44; of Freemas- 
onry, 46-50; teachings of 
Jesus, 59; of Paul, 59; of 
Church Fathers, 59; opposed 
(?) by Papal Rome, 61, 62, 
63, 64; used as a criticism of 
Masonry, 212; discipline of 
the Christian, 208 

Seven, the sacred number, 33 

Signs on the Trestle Board, 13 

Speculative Mason, 77 

Social Precedence and the Car- 
dinals, 123 

Son of man, and the Son of 
God, 172 ; or career of Jesus, 
184 

St. Augustine and pre-Christian 
Christianity, 29 

St. John, 81 

Symbolism, 240 

Symbol, cone on head, 169; the 
gavel, 208; fish, 212-215; 
trowel, 214; dolphin, 214; let- 
ter G, 223, 225; All Seeing 
Eye, 226; Sun, 227; circle, 
228-229 ; Triangle, 230 ; 
Christian, 232 ; the cross, 233 ; 
dove, 234; olive, 235; palm, 
236 ; cock, < 236 ; ark, 237, 
Lyre, 238, vine, 239 



Ten Commandments, Christian 
and pre-Christian, 189 

Tennyson, 12, 143 

Temple, Nagon-Wot, 3; Peru, 
162 

Tertullian and the mysteries, 60 

Thanksgiving and its meaning, 
114 

Thebes, 2 

Three steps, 79, 108; Virgins, 
190; Virgin born Saviors, 
192; Three Trinities, 196 

Thoth, 7 

T. K, 18, 93, 218 

"To be good men and true," 
43 



INDEX 



249 



Tree, sacred, 200 

Trestle Board, signs on the, 13 

Trinity, a political not a relig- 
ious question, 25; three com- 
pared, 196; Hermetic, 203 

Tyndall, 14 



Vedas, secreted from Akhar, 
51; and five pointed star, 79 



Vincent, "Land of the White 

Elephant," 3 
Vitruvius and Architecture, 80 
Virgin born Saviors ct seq., 98, 

190, 192, 199; Virgin legends 

of three, 190 

Washington and the Schools, 

83 
Wilder, Prof., 7 



